Happyville
by Gariell
Summary: In the summer, Makoto left his home for a job interview as a private teacher. Instead, he was sent to an abandoned amusement park. He never came back after that day. A letter came to Haruka and alerted that Makoto was in the hands of a man who called himself 'The Joker'. To save Makoto, Haruka and his friends participated in a game of trials and fears under The Joker's rules.
1. Welcome to Happyville

**The idea of this work is originally inspired by the Samezuka Channel CD, _Ano Natsu no Long Slow Distance,_ in which the Iwatobi guys are lost and arrive at an abandoned amusement park.**

 **This fic will probably be dark. I hope you enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer: Free! and Free! Eternal Summer belong to KyoAni**

* * *

 **CHAPTER I**

 **WELCOME TO HAPPYVILLE**

It was a simple job of tutoring an elementary school boy who lived in a lakeside house. The promised salary was quite high, and the house wasn't that far. He only needed to take the right bus to go there. Tachibana Makoto slid his mouse and clicked for contact information. He fetched his pen by the desk and scribbled the numbers on a post-it note.

 _"Makoto, what are you doing?"_

He was having a voice chat via Skype with Haruka. Makoto dropped his pen beside his laptop before replying, "I'm sorry, Haru. I was searching for a job to spend my summer holiday." He slipped the note between his fingertips, "I think it may be a good idea to raise money for my living expenses in Tokyo."

 _"Oh,"_ Haruka replied. After a moment of silence, his voice continued by the speaker, _"have you got one yet?"_

"I'm going to make a phone call." Makoto found himself smiling enthusiastically, "I hope I can get the job. It's a job as a private teacher. Promised salary is good, and it will only take half my time in the summer. After that, we can spend our time together this summer holiday, Haru."

 _"Sounds nice. You can practically learn to teach that way."_ Even though Makoto couldn't see Haruka through their voice chat, he had a strong feeling Haruka was smiling at the other line. _"That means you're closer to your dream to become a swim coach."_

"That's right. Wish me luck, Haru. I'll be back after I make the call." Makoto stood up from his chair, still staring at the screen of his laptop.

 _"Good luck, Makoto."_

Makoto smiled and walked toward a telephone attached on the end desk standing beside his bed. The apartment room he was living at wasn't the best one, but at least it was comfortable enough. Makoto sat on his bed and copied the numbers written on the post-it note to the phone buttons. He pressed the receiver to his ear while looking up at the ceiling. He was nervous.

 _"Hello?"_ A woman's voice was heard.

"Hello. Excuse me, but are you the one who put on an ad looking for a private teacher on the internet?" Makoto's fingers were playing with the phone cable.

 _"Oh, yes! Are you going to apply for the job? Because it's still available."_ The woman's voice sounded enthusiastic.

"Yes, I'm going to. So is it your son who needs the teaching? What grade is he in?"

 _"He's in the fifth grade. Having difficulties with Math and Japanese Language. Also, he's easily distracted and doesn't have a strong motivation to study. Do you think you can do it? Like making both subjects fun so he can enjoy studying them?"_ There was something odd about the woman's voice, but Makoto couldn't decipher what it was.

"I will try my best." He had once coached Shigino Kisumi's little brother to swim. Shigino Hayato hated swimming at first, and he was afraid of it, yet Makoto managed to make him love swimming. He reminded himself about that for encouragement.

 _"That's great, but I can't just accept you. Would you please come to our house for your job interview? Just a few questions to make sure you're the right person for my son."_

"Certainly. I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself. My name's Tachibana Makoto. May I have your name, ma'am?"

 _"Are you a university student?"_ She asked, ignoring Makoto's request for her name.

"Yes, first year at Tokyo University."

 _"Sounds awesome. Call me Doukeshi-san. Prepare your pen. I'm going to tell you my complete address."_

Makoto couldn't help but frown once he heard the name. _Doukeshi—_ clown? Mrs. Clown? He shrugged it off. Just someone with a weird name. He and his gang were all boys with girly names, after all. Those weren't too awesome either, but Makoto loved that. Their names had been a strong connection between him and his friends.

As he listened, his pen scribbled swiftly on his notes. After he attended Tokyo University, he was used to write fast to catch up with his professors' lectures. After arranging the time of his visit, he hung up.

Makoto inhaled and let out a sigh. He quickly made his way back to his laptop. "Haru? Are you still there?"

 _"How was it, Makoto?"_ It was Haruka's voice. Somehow, that voice calmed him down from his nervousness.

"It's going good. I'll have my job interview by Monday." He paused, "Haruuu, can you accompany me to buy a new set of clothes for the interview this Saturday? I'll leave Tokyo on Sunday, so I'm afraid we don't have the time to do that." He pleaded with honeyed voice, "Also, I need your eyes to help me choose the clothes."

A sigh was heard from the other line. _"Fine."_

"Thank you, Haru!"

 _"Why do you even need that? It's just a summer job interview. Your usual clothes are good enough."_ Haruka said.

"Eh? Really? But I'm still not confident... Haru, why don't you leave Tokyo sooner? You can also come with me at the interview. If you're there with me, I will feel more confident."

A sigh. _"Makoto, I have an important joint practice on Monday."_

"Ah." Makoto tried to hide his disappointment, "It's okay. I wish you luck. You're working hard, Haru. I know you're going to be a great Olympic swimmer one day, because you really are the best in the water, Haru-chan."

 _"What are you talking about?"_

"So when will you come home to Iwatobi?" Makoto changed the subject.

 _"A week after you arrive there."_

:-:

On Monday afternoon in Iwatobi, Makoto left his house in his new set of clothes that Haruka had picked up for him two days before. Haruka's choice was to go with the casual ones with a pair of jeans and a nice new shirt, freshly washed. The key point was clean and neat, and Haruka stuffed three packs of mint candies to Makoto's bag, for fresh breath. Perhaps Haruka was right. Makoto didn't need new clothes after all.

When Makoto made it to the bus stop, the place was empty. Not many people passed this area, he thought, especially at this time of day. He was wondering why the woman insisted him to come at dusk. The distance wasn't that far away, so Makoto accepted her request. He had also planned to come home a little late today.

He had come here before last summer, with Haruka, Nagisa, and Rei, to hold joint training camp near the lake with Samezuka Academy. They ended up taking the wrong bus, though. This time, Makoto wouldn't make the same mistake. He looked at the address note in his hand.

 _Lakethorn Front._

"Wait..." he murmured, "so the house isn't located near the place we held our training camp? I thought—"

A bus stopped in front of him. Makoto blinked and lifted his head. This bus looked...empty. There was the driver, of course. Makoto walked to the opened door of the bus. "Excuse me, is this bus going to Lakethorn Front?"

The driver nodded his head. "Yeah, come in."

Makoto did a quick glance inside the bus. There was indeed nobody inside. He gulped before taking his seat at the front, just behind the driver's seat. It felt uncomfortable, and strangely eerie. He fidgeted nervously in his seat. His mind kept considering whether he should take this bus or not, but before Makoto could decide, the door was closed and the bus started moving. He was the only passenger inside.

Makoto patiently waited as the bus kept going. He was hoping to see another station so he could just get off. For some unknown reasons, his heart couldn't stop beating too loudly. Something felt wrong— _very wrong._

It was common knowledge that Makoto was a scaredy-cat, and he kept telling himself that it was his own fault. He was scared because the bus was empty, and it was his wild imagination's fault to create a picture of a faceless driver in his head. The driver kept silent along the way, he didn't even turn his head and Makoto couldn't see his face. The ride felt like an eternity—as he was expecting a bus station on sight every five minutes and didn't see even one. The bus took him high and deep to the mountains.

At least three hours had passed. Makoto had sent some emails to Haruka expressing his worries, but he hadn't got a single reply from his best friend. It's been a while since Makoto felt so lonely. After staring hard at his empty mail inbox, Makoto shifted his gaze to the bus window. His heart did a happy leap when he saw a station nearby.

Makoto was expecting the bus to stop, but the driver didn't at all hit the brake. A trickle of cold sweat broke through the temple of his head as the bus passed the station. "Excuse me." Makoto finally said, "Why don't you stop at that station? I was going to get off there."

The driver kept his head facing the seemingly endless road. He didn't reply, nor did he turn his head to face Makoto. "Hey—" Makoto was suddenly in panic, "can you listen to me—"

"You're going to Lakethorn Front." The driver suddenly said without even a glance at Makoto, "I'm going to take you there."

Makoto looked out the window, "I don't think I want to go this far—"

"Oh, I know..." The driver said in a low voice, "I know where to take you."

Realization crossed his face. Makoto was being deceived. He was the only passenger inside, and this driver took the advantage to that and wanted something from him. Was it his money? He didn't even wear anything expensive—he didn't bring his laptop, but he was going to be robbed, anyway. Without anybody around, it was so easy for a crime to be done. Just anything could happen.

Makoto punched the keys of his cell phone with trembling fingertips. Makoto didn't want his parents to worry, but he had to at least alert them for the situation he might have stuck in. When Makoto was trying to send a message, his cell phone refused to do so as he got no signal at all. He kept trying to send them in desperation, but the message wouldn't go out.

 _Haru,_ his mind couldn't think of another name, _Haru, Haru, Haru, I'm scared._

Finally, Makoto felt a brake being pushed and the bus stopped. He turned his head to look outside the window and saw a huge, rusty iron gates, which stood at least five meters in height. Behind the gates were some sort of an old amusement park. The dusk had arrived.

"Doukeshi-san's residence." The driver suddenly said. Makoto almost jumped a little on his seat. Confusion and fear consumed him. Makoto didn't even want to see the driver's face now. Eyes shut, he stood up, picked up his stuffs, and quickly made his way out of the bus. Now he wanted to just run away. Once he stepped on the dusty ground with dried and crushed leaves scattered around, he jumped in terror as he heard a broken voice calling for his name.

"Tachibana Makoto."

The voice was unclear, scratched, and damaged—like it came out from a broken radio. Makoto looked around, horror-stricken. Near the huge iron gates, he spotted a single booth. It looked like a ticket booth, but part of the window had been shattered. The voice was coming from the booth.

Inside the booth, there was a wooden doll dressed like a traditional woman, wearing a scattered kimono. Her mouth hung open, and one of her eyes was missing. Her remaining huge black eye seemed to be staring hard right through Makoto's eyes.

Makoto felt like he could faint.

"Tachibana Makoto..." the wooden mouth moved mechanically, "I am Doukeshi-san."

Makoto screamed as his body turned back to escape the place. Usually, Haruka was always there for him to cling onto, but now he was alone, and Makoto felt a surge of panic building up inside him, overflowing uncontrollably.

Rough, muscular arms grabbed his shaken body from behind. Makoto screamed louder, but a piece of damp cloth was pressed roughly over his nose and mouth, muffling his scream. The sickly-sweet smell of chloroform made his head spin. His vision went blurry before it turned pitch black.

:-:

Makoto never come home since the day he left on Monday.

On the first night of his disappearance, his mother had called Haruka, asking in worry if Makoto had ever contacted him. Haruka apologized. And he apologized again. And again.

Because Makoto had asked Haruka to accompany him, but Haruka rejected him. Makoto had sent him emails he was too late to read, and Haruka couldn't do anything about them. He had made failed attempts to call Makoto. He didn't have a clue where Makoto might be going. Makoto emailed him that he was on a bus—the same bus they'd taken in mistake last summer, but it was different. Makoto said it was eerie and strange, that he was alone, and he was scared, and Haruka didn't even spare his time to read them.

On the second night since Makoto's disappearance, his mother was crying on the phone. Haruka apologized again. He booked a flight to come back to Iwatobi as soon as possible.

On the third night, the police had been alerted. Haruka did his best to provide every information he had for the police. He told them Makoto found a job ad on the internet, that he was taking a bus to go there, and the bus was empty, and it was eerie, and Makoto was scared. Makoto's laptop had been opened. Haruka found the job ad Makoto was talking about, but the numbers were no longer active. The location was also possibly a fake.

Nobody except Haruka had any other information to share.

On the fourth night, Rin came back from Australia. Sousuke was with him. Haruka didn't bother to ask why, or to ask anything at all. Rin silently gave him an embrace. Sousuke said nothing, looking at the ground. Nagisa was crying, and Rei kept patting him on his shoulder, whispering that everything would be okay, but his tears broke out after a minute. There were no further news about the investigation progress.

Makoto was kidnapped, and Haruka was crushed. It felt like he'd lost his other half. His heart was shattered to pieces, half of it gaped open and hollow.

On the fifth day, a letter was in Nanase Haruka's mailbox. He didn't know how and when it got there. It was an invitation. A childish one, with pastel colors and smiley faces all over the letter. Haruka read the card.

 _'You are all cordially invited to Happyville, a secret place of joy. Take our exclusive bus for your access to the place. Enjoy your ride, play your games, feel the thrill, and forget the world as Happyville will put you in a great amusement and pleasure._

 _Be mindful that Happyville also challenge you to a fun and thrilling game. Win it and claim your charming grand prize Tachibana Makoto, presented with honor by his master, The Joker. Be ready for the spotlight. To start your fun, be sure to bring your exclusive tickets._

 _Happyville will be opened exclusively for you. Any uninvited guests will not be allowed inside the Happyville. Since Happyville is a secret place of paradise, failing to maintain its secrecy will result in the destruction of Happyville, along with Tachibana Makoto, the grand prize. All that remained should be his ashes._

 _We are excitedly waiting for you. Sincerely, The Joker.'_

Inside the envelope were five tickets to the amusement park named 'Happyville', each with different guest names: _'Nanase Haruka', 'Hazuki Nagisa', 'Ryuugazaki Rei', 'Matsuoka Rin', 'Yamazaki Sousuke'._

Nanase Haruka squeezed the card in his hand. He was filled with intense fury. He punched the mailbox hard with his knuckles, feeling sticky blood between his fingers. Self-blame replaced with pure hatred and rage.

He would play whatever game this Joker had challenged him. He would win it and take Makoto back to him, safe and sound.

:-:

"So this is the place?" Matsuoka Rin was staring at the rusty iron gates in front of him. "Happyville. Just as lame as its invitation."

"Rin-san, this is serious matter." Ryuugazaki Rei pushed his glasses to his eyes, "We should speak and proceed with caution. This is a potential murderer we are talking about—this is all so crazy! It defies all reason!"

"Rei-chan. Be quiet." Nagisa looked around, "How to get inside? We've brought our tickets."

"Nagisa-kun! Did you pay attention to the bus that took us here? What's with that eerie atmosphere—what's with that super silent driver? What's with that empty station? And most importantly—why should we go at nightfall? I need explanations here!" Rei kept going.

"We will reveal the truth." Sousuke finally said, "So all we can do now is play the game."

"Aaah!" Nagisa suddenly exclaimed.

"Whaat?!" Rei put his arms over his face as he was trembling with fear.

"See? A ticket booth!" Nagisa walked casually to the damaged booth with shattered window. Rei grabbed him and pulled him away.

"Nagisa-kun! What is that!?" Rei was practically screaming. Nagisa blinked his magenta eyes. There was something lurking behind the booth. It was a wooden doll of a traditional japanese woman, dressed in black kimono. One eye missing, the other eye was so black and void, but it seemed to be staring back at them.

"T-that's creepy. Damn it." Rin grabbed Sousuke's collar in reflex.

"O-oi, Rin..." Sousuke protested in whisper.

"Welcome... to... Happyville." A broken voice came out of the doll. "Nanase... Haruka... Hazuki... Nagisa... Ryuugazaki... Rei... Matsuoka... Rin... Yamazaki... Sousuke..."

The rusty iron gates began to open in front of them. Haruka was staring ahead. His eyes seemed to have lost their shine. Makoto was somewhere inside, waiting for him.

When he made his first step, the broken voice continued. "Are you... afraid... of the dark...?"

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

 **So that's the first chapter. I hope I'm doing okay. Next chapter will be updated in about a month. Comments and reviews are so very much appreciated! See you on the next chapter!**


	2. The Claw Crane

**Thank you for all of you who leave reviews and have read this story. Here's another chapter, quite a long one. Replies for guest reviews under this chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: Free! and Free! Eternal Summer belong to Kyoto Animation**

* * *

 **CHAPTER II**

 **THE CLAW CRANE**

The moment Tachibana Makoto woke up, darkness welcomed his vision. His head felt so heavy and throbbed with pain. Still half-conscious, he turned his head around, yet no matter how hard he'd tried, he couldn't see a thing. Before a single question invaded his mind, he knew he'd been blindfolded.

He was lying on his back pressed to a hard and flat surface, possibly a table. Makoto made an attempt to pull himself up with no success. Sounds of chains rattled along with his effort. His wrists and ankles were bound to the four edges of the table.

Everything around him was cold.

He didn't know how many days had passed since he was imprisoned. His days went by quickly, back and forth from conscious to unconscious state. He would be given food and water every certain period. He sometimes felt his body being cleaned with cold water, but other times he wasn't aware of anything that had been done to him.

This day would probably not be different.

Makoto fidgeted in his position, pulling his hands constantly as hard as he could. In the end, he was too exhausted to try again. The chain binding only left unnecessary wounds over his wrists. His breaths came out heavy.

The sudden sound of a heavy door being opened made Makoto jerked his body in surprise, only to be held back by his chains. Someone entered the room.

"Haru?" Makoto couldn't help but say the name, his voice hoarse. A trickle of hope was still burning weakly inside him. He heard footsteps which were growing quieter as they approached him, until they stopped and Makoto could sense someone lingered next to him.

"You're really attached to him, aren't you?" The voice belonged to a man, but Makoto couldn't recognize it as a voice he was familiar with. He's sure he never met this man before. Makoto turned his head away.

The man grabbed Makoto's chin with his rough hand, forcing the brunet to face him. His breaths and whisper blew through Makoto's ears, making him shiver. "I like the way you said his name. Say it again. See if he will come to you."

Makoto ignored the man, keeping his mouth shut. He felt a sharp stinging pain as his captor slapped him hard across his cheek. Makoto clenched his teeth, but his mouth was forced open when a piece of cloth was stuffed with force inside it. Then, the man walked away from him.

"Welcome to Happyville." He heard the man spoke, "I am The Joker. Please, do enjoy your time. For warming up before the actual game, why don't we play just a little bit with a claw crane machine? Who doesn't like lovely prizes?"

:-:

Behind the rusty iron gates, a narrow, moonlit brick path lied in the middle of barren, cracked ground, dying grass, and several old leafless trees. There was no signs of any ride or attraction around. The moment Rei tried to back away, the gates had closed shut behind them. Rin had tried to barge it open, but they wouldn't budge. They had no other choice but to move forward.

"What does it mean, asking if we're afraid of the dark?" Nagisa expressed his wonder while the group made their way through the path, a silver coin in his hand. "Are we going to be divided into two groups? Like, the ones who are cowardice and ones who aren't?" He looked at the coin. After each of them answered their questions, the japanese woman doll moved her arm mechanically and gave them five coins, one person each.

"Dunno, but if that's the case, Rei should be left alone in one group." Rin answered. Rei cringed at the thought.

"No way! I'm not afraid of the dark!" Rei objected, "I'm just afraid of something illogical and defies theory!" He pushes his glasses again, "Well, Makoto-senpai is the only one who's afraid of the dark, isn't he? And now he..." Rei trailed off, looking down, "I'm sorry."

Haruka didn't say anything. He peeked at his email inbox one last time, reading some emails from Makoto that he never replied, all sent on Monday.

 _'10.37 A.M._

 _Haru, today's the day. Wish me luck. Good luck to you too! I wish I can see you swim.'_

 _'11.55 A.M._

 _Haru, come home soon and look what I've got for you. You'll love it. Oh, by the way, I can't wait to spend my summer holiday with you. Whatever activities we're going to do, if you're there with me, I'm sure it will be fun.'_

 _'14.33 P.M._

 _I bet you're busy. I'm on my way for the interview. I should say thanks again for choosing the clothes for me. I remembered to eat a bunch of strong mint, sugar-free candies you've got for me. They taste rather horrible, but they're effective. I know I can rely on you!'_

 _'15.26 P.M._

 _Still busy? Sorry for the bunch of emails from me. I'm on a bus now. Haru, there's nobody inside. Only me and the driver. The atmosphere is somewhat creepy. Since you're not with me, I feel extremely uncomfortable here. What should I do?'_

 _'16.32 P.M._

 _Something's wrong. The bus takes such a long time to arrive at a station. I wonder if I have taken the wrong bus. There's no station in sight, either. Since I'm the only passenger here... I'm worried, Haru. Sorry.'_

 _'17.38 P.M._

 _Where are you? I'm still on the bus. I have been imagining creepy things now, and I'm so scared. That's probably my own fault, so I'm sorry. Are you okay, Haru? Did you leave your cell phone again? I hope you're doing well.'_

 _'17.49 P.M._

 _Haru, I'm sorry if I got on your nerves? I shouldn't be worried about anything, I know. I'm still in the bus with no station nearby, but I will do my best to remain calm. Sorry, Haru. Are you angry with me? I do hope you can reply so I know you're doing okay.'_

 _'17.55 P.M._

 _Haruuu, please just reply now or as soon as possible. I can't bear this. I'm worried about you.'_

 _'18.00 P.M._

 _Haru? Are you okay? Forgive me? I'll have to admit that I feel lonely here.'_

Haruka was frustrated at Makoto's habit to apologize for something that wasn't his fault, like he's always the one to blame, but Haruka was more frustrated at his own self. He forgot to bring his phone that day, and he was too busy having fun swimming to make an attempt to come home early—to have a chat with Makoto, asking how it's going. Even when he was done with practice, he went shopping for some new swimming equipments, considering that Makoto would wait.

Makoto shouldn't wait. Haruka should have known that.

Haruka locked his phone and stuffed it in his pocket. He wouldn't make Makoto wait any longer. He bumped against Rin, who had stopped suddenly in front of him. When Haruka looked up, he saw the path had diverged into two. Two arrow signs stood in the middle, but Haruka couldn't read them. Sousuke pulled out a flashlight from his sling bag and turned it on, casting the signs with light. The words on them had greatly faded.

"We shouldn't separate." Rin said, "Just take whatever path. The signs don't help us in any way, either."

"Let's take the right path." Nagisa smiled, "Because that path is the 'right' one."

"Sure. Let's go. No need to waste any more time." Sousuke took the path first, the others followed behind. Haruka took a peek on the left path, wondering where it would take them, but it was obscured by huge old trees. Haruka sighed. The path was seemingly long and dark, they were guided by Sousuke's flashlight and the moonlight.

"I brought my own flashlight." Rei suddenly said, he was too nervous to remember that. He pulled out his flashlight, "I also brought a pocketknife, foods and water, and some more weapons. If we're to face a potential murderer, we should prepare ourselves to fight."

The moment Rei turned on his flashlight, lamps of various colors on the ground illuminated their path. The street lamps alongside the path became lively.

"Rei-chan you're hopeless." Nagisa commented.

"Just where is that coming from, Nagisa-kun?" Rei turned his flashlight off.

"Because we don't need your flashlight at all." Nagisa pouted.

"That's not an acceptable reason!"

 _"Welcome to Happyville."_ Voice of a man interrupted them. When Haruka looked up, he could see a speaker being attached to an electric pole at the right side of them. The voice came out of it, loud and clear. _"I am The Joker. Please, do enjoy your time. For warming up before the actual game, why don't we play just a little bit with a claw crane machine? Who doesn't like lovely prizes?"_

"Bastard. We don't have time for your stupid warm-up game." Rin clenched his teeth, "Just tell us where's Makoto already."

The voice chuckled. _"Win your game if you want your prize. Isn't that our agreement? If you fail to follow my rules, prepare your last speech and goodbyes to your dear prize."_

"Hey, how do we know if you have Makoto? It's possible your overall invitation is just a scam." Rin countered.

 _"Do you want proof? Because it will inflict a little pain to Tachibana Makoto."_

"Rin, just play along." Sousuke whispered near his ear, "Once we're able to track this bastard, we'll beat the shit out of him. Just have your weapon ready at—"

A muffled shrill cry of pain burst out of the speaker. Sousuke gulped, swallowing the remaining of his words.

There's no way Haruka didn't recognize it. Out of all voices, he was most familiar with this one. The cry belonged to Makoto. It caused intense pain to stab through his heart, leaving a shallow wound on it, and an extremely uncomfortable sensation in his gut.

"Stop! We get it, okay? Stop that!" Rin shouted, panic in his voice, "Fine. Game on."

Haruka didn't realize he had held his breath the whole time since Makoto's cry.

 _"Look to your left."_ The Joker's voice replaced the cry. They turned their attention on the left and spotted something like a claw crane machine, only wider and taller than usual. The surface of the machine was covered with dark cloth. The only part visible was the bottom of the machine, which revealed a sick yellowish green color, along with the slot to get the prize.

"I have a bad feeling about that." Rin whispered as they approached the machine.

 _"Before you do anything, let me explain the rules. They're simple."_ The Joker said through the speaker, _"Since it's your first time, and it's just a warm-up game, you may choose the bravest one among you."_

The group looked at each other.

"Definitely not me." Rei averted his eyes to the ground.

"Me neither." Nagisa smiled sheepishly.

"I think you may be the bravest one, Nagisa-kun." Rei nudged the blonde.

"No. No. Definitely not." Nagisa looked away, his sheepish smile froze on his lips.

"Haru, you're Makoto's hero at times of darkness, right?" Rin grinned at Haruka, flashing a doubtful smile. Haruka remained silent.

Sousuke sighed. "Don't waste time. One of us should volunteer." He took a glance at Haruka. Haruka closed his eyes. He seemed to be thinking. When he was about to volunteer, Sousuke's voice interrupted him. "I said we don't have time. I will volunteer." Sousuke took a step forward, "So what's next?"

Haruka's eyes widened, mouth parted open. A surge of guilt rushed in him. He should be the one who stepped in first to save Makoto... right?

 _"Bravo, Yamazaki Sousuke. Now put your hand inside the prize slot. Don't try to peek inside."_ The Joker chuckled, _"Don't worry."_

"I'm not worried, dammit." Sousuke crouched down to the bottom of the machine, examining the prize slot. The entrance was barely big enough to put other thing beside a knuckle of hand. He took a deep breath before putting his hand inside.

 _"Rule number one: don't you dare pull out your hand from the slot. Your hand must remain inside until the game is over. Your job is the most fun: getting the reward."_ The Joker said. Rin looked worried. He approached Sousuke and stood beside him. Haruka followed after, staring at Sousuke. His ocean blue eyes met with Sousuke's teal ones.

 _"Rule number two: you have five attempts to get whatever prize you want, using each coin. All coins should be used, and all of you must play at least once, except for our brave Yamazaki Sousuke."_

Rei and Nagisa stood behind Sousuke near the machine. All four of them formed a wall around Sousuke, as if protecting him.

 _"Rule number three: do not cheat. Get your prize with fair play. You may uncover the machine and enjoy your game."_

Rin nodded to everyone before grabbing the dark cloth, uncovering the claw crane machine. Once the machine was uncovered, it revealed a bunch of living snakes of different colors behind the glass. They were mostly brownish green, with yellow blotches and spots. They were about five to eight feet in length, and were quite big.

Rin's eyes widened. "These are..."

"Habu." Rei took a step backward, "One of the most venomous snake in Japan. They're quite aggressive, too."

 _"Most aggressive ones."_ They heard The Joker's voice, _"These habu snakes are hungry, and they're nocturnal. These snakes are most active in the summer. Great time to play with them, isn't it?"_

"You've got to be kidding me." Rin muttered in disbelief.

"Look, there are two bottles between the snakes." Nagisa pointed out. The rest of them, beside Sousuke, peeked inside.

 _"You've got a good eye, Hazuki Nagisa."_ The Joker said, _"Yes. Inside the bottle is a map of this amusement park, along with a guide to get you to your grand prize. The other bottle consists of a serum, an anti-venom, and other medical equipments. You will probably need them for your friend Sousuke. I'll keep watching over you. Enjoy."_ The speaker went off.

"Sousuke, we're sorry." Rin put his hand on Sousuke's shoulder, squeezing it gently. "You're going to be okay. Everyone," he turned to his other friends, "do your best. Like your lives depend on it."

"Of course." Nagisa nodded, "Our targets are those two bottles. Who's first?" When no one answered, Nagisa shot his hand up. "I'll be first. Sou-chan, settle down. Don't be anxious."

Sousuke nodded, although he looked a little pale. He moved his hand inside the slot, feeling sweat over his palm.

Nagisa eyed the machine and slipped his silver coin to the coin slot. "This machine isn't the one with joystick." His hand ran through several buttons on it.

"It's harder, then. We should calculate how many times each button should be pushed." Rei looked at the machine, "Problem is, we don't know how far the claw will go."

"So this thing will work after we're done pushing the buttons?" Rin studied it. There were four buttons: right, forward, down, and done.

"What's our first target?" Nagisa's fingertip was ready on the right button. The bottle with anti-venom and the medical equipments was positioned in the middle, after some length from the glass on the back. It stood just beside a habu snake. The other one with the map was resting at the right corner, constricted by one habu, who was biting on its neck. The snake revealed a long, thin pair of venomous fangs.

"The anti-venom." Rin said.

"The map." Haruka said at the same time.

Rin and Haruka looked at each other for a while, but said nothing else.

"Eeh? I'll choose then. Let's go with the anti-venom. Better safe than sorry?" Nagisa patted Sousuke's back. "Okay, Sou-chan? Be ready to grab the bottle."

Sousuke let out a deep breath. "I'm ready. Just do it."

The others watched as Nagisa pushed a combination of buttons to set the claw to the middle, where the antivenom bottle rested. "So there's no reset button?" Nagisa frowned.

"D-did you make a mistake?" Rei asked in concern.

"No, no. I'm quite confident my combination is good. Alright, go!" Nagisa pushed the 'done' button.

They all watched in anticipation as the claw started to move to the middle, but the claw stopped a little too far from the anti-venom bottle before it started to move to the back and slowly fell to the bottom, grabbing a body of a habu snake nearby with an iron grip.

Cold sweat broke through Sousuke's spine.

"Oh shit." Rin hissed.

The snake fought furiously as its body was lifted up high. It bared its sharp fangs, biting the claw in anger. The movement was quick and deadly. Sousuke's heart went faster as he saw how fast the snake could strike. The claw swung the body to the prize hole in the corner and dropped the snake to the slot.

Sousuke cursed under his breath as he felt the snake body fell right on his hand, feeling its skin sliding between his palm. Rin crouched down beside Sousuke. "Sousuke, calm down and don't move—"

Sousuke let out a startled cry. Rin jumped a little in alarm. "It bites me!" Sousuke grunted in pain. He managed to fight the urge to pull his hand out. Rin could hear the furious hiss of a habu snake coming from the slot.

"Sousuke-san, keep calm. If you're anxious, your heart will work faster and the venom will spread faster in your blood and to your torso." Rei almost shouted, panic-stricken.

"Focus on grabbing that anti-venom." Rin lightly pushed Nagisa aside and slid his coin. He quickly scanned the buttons, his hands started to tremble. "Nagisa, how many times did you push the right button? I should just reduce the number by one."

"Three. Twice forward." Nagisa whimpered.

Rin quickly pushed both the right and forward buttons twice each. When the claw swung and stopped, it still missed the bottle and fortunately grabbed at nothing.

"What the hell?" Rin took Sousuke's coin and put it inside the slot for his second try. "How to get there if thrice or twice didn't do it?"

"Rin-san, I have a theory. The claw probably moved at different length for each try." Rei sneaked beside him, "This game lies heavily on luck."

"This game isn't playing fair at all!" Rin put the same formula on the buttons, hoping the claw would swing at different length from its previous move.

The mechanical claw swung to the right and stopped at the perfect position in the middle. It just needed to move forward to arrive at the best position to grab the anti-venom bottle.

Rin almost cried in triumph, but it never came out of his mouth when the claw stopped too far away to grab the bottle after it moved forward. The claw descended to the bottom and disturbed another habu snake which was resting at its place. The snake wriggled as the claw grabbed its body and pulled it up.

Before the claw dropped another habu snake to the prize slot, Sousuke spit out a pained cry. He got another bite from the previous snake, and it left horrible pain on his finger. Rin's heart was crushed as he watched his best friend clenching his teeth, eyes shut to fight the pain.

"Damn! Damn these snakes—damn it all!" Sousuke cried as he received another furious bite from the second snake after it entered the prize slot. His fingers felt numb, and he was nauseous, ready to vomit as the venom started to take effect in his body.

"Next!" Rin commanded the rest of them. "Hurry up and grab that fuckin' bottle!"

"I will be next." Rei stopped in front of the machine and inserted his coin. His brain did a quick calculation. This game might depend heavily on luck, but that didn't mean the claw moved randomly without a formula.

He remembered their third try—Rin's second attempt to grab the anti-venom. The claw moved perfectly forward, just another push of the forward button would have the claw reached the back glass. Calculating the length, it would be perfect to grab the bottle which consisted the map if Rin pushed the right button four times, and the forward button three times. At Rin's second attempt, the claw mechanism was designed to take the bottled map, but not the anti-venom.

On the other hand, Nagisa's attempt had the right mechanism to take the anti-venom, but since they didn't have the slightest knowledge at how far the claw would move for each push, Nagisa's turn would just make it as a trial run.

After Nagisa was Rin's first turn. Based on the length that had been taken by the mechanical claw, Rin's turn wasn't designed to grab any of the bottles. Either it would grab nothing or a snake. Luckily for them, Rin grabbed at nothing.

 _If the mechanism works in circle, that means my turn would be perfect to grab the anti-venom,_ Rei thought. _First attempt was designed to take the anti-venom, the second attempt for none of the bottles, the third attempt for the map. The fourth turn, which is mine, should have the mechanism already back to square one: the anti-venom._

"Rei, what are you doing? Quick!" Rin was on his knee beside Sousuke, who had turned pale. Sousuke's eyes seemed unfocused as the venom slowly seeped deeper into his body. It looked like he was about to faint.

Heart pounding, Rei pushed his buttons with the same formula as Rin's.

The claw moved just as Rei had hoped. It stopped at the perfect position just above the anti-venom, but much to Rei's horror, the claw grabbed a snake instead when one habu was moving above the bottle.

"NO!" Rei shouted in frustration and defeat.

"This is unfair and stupid!" Anger started to consume Rin.

Sousuke hissed in pain. He really wanted to pull his hand out before the third habu harm him with its venomous fangs, but he was too stubborn to lose.

"Last chance, Haru-chan!" Nagisa turned to Haruka, his eyes pleading. "Save Sou-chan!"

Haruka was staring at Sousuke the whole time. As much as he wanted the map to help them get to Makoto, he knew he couldn't leave Sousuke in pain, especially when Haruka was the one who should've been in that position. Haruka nodded in determination and made his way in front of the machine.

"It's over." Rei's head hanging down in defeat, "It's over."

"W-what are you saying, Rei-chan? We still have a chance." Nagisa looked at Rei warily, "We can't get the map but we can at least save Sou-chan."

"No. My theory said the claw's mechanism is designed to grab the anti-venom only at my turn and yours, Nagisa-kun." Rei grabbed a strand of his blue hair, "At Haruka-senpai's turn, the claw will grab at nothing or the snake, no matter how hard you try."

"Bullshit. I know you can grab that anti-venom for Sousuke, Haru." Rin kept patting Sousuke's back to calm his best friend down, and to ease him so his heart rate wouldn't go faster.

"But there's a chance...quite a small one, but a chance—that you may be able to grab the map instead." Rei suddenly said, "Because we have five attempts. Two attempts for the anti-venom, so another two will probably for the map—"

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about, Rei." Rin bared his sharp teeth in anger, "All we need is the anti-venom. Only that. Sousuke is in danger. The hell with that map!"

Haruka's eyes darkened at those words. "The anti-venom, then." He murmured quietly, pushing a combination of buttons and started the claw.

Quite surprisingly, Rei was true. The claw stopped exactly at the same position as Rin's second try. At Haruka's turn, the mechanism was designed to get the map. In the end, the claw brought back nothing to the prize slot, since Haruka aimed for the anti-venom instead.

Haruka stared blankly at the machine. They were out of coins, and they failed to get even one of the bottles. The game only resulted in Sousuke's injury. They shouldn't play at all...

...but wasn't this the only way to have Makoto back to him?

 _"Game's over. You got three snake prizes. Congratulations."_ The Joker's voice came out of the blue from the speaker. _"Thank you for playing and find your own way to the next game or ride—if you're still willing to get your grand prize, that is."_ The speaker went off again.

Sousuke quickly pulled out his hand from the prize slot. Four nasty bites were visible on his hand. They were bloody red on his fingers, with splotches of sickly purplish blue. Sousuke's wounds were starting to swell badly. Sousuke threw up on the brick path, feeling nausea in his gut. He tried to stand up, but his feet immediately failed.

"Sousuke!" Rin quickly caught him, holding him in place.

"Sou-chan!" Nagisa was anxious, "I'm so sorry!"

"Sousuke-san, please remain calm—" Rei examined the wounds, "Just rest for now while I think of the way to get that venom out." Rei himself was trying to calm down so he could think clearly.

"The hospital..." Rin pulled Sousuke's arm around his shoulder. He tried his best to support Sousuke's body weight, "take him to the hospital."

"We can't! The gates are shut. We've tried to barge them open before with no avail." Rei failed to calm down.

"Rei, hold him." Rin handed Sousuke carefully to Rei. "Let him lie down for a while."

Rei did as instructed. "What are you going to do, Rin-san...?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Rin's hand rummaged inside his bag and fished out a rather large hammer from it. He brought the hammer with him as a weapon and other uses.

Haruka's eyes widened when he realized what Rin was trying to do. "Wait. You're going to break the glass...?"

"Of course." Rin was too furious to think straight, "What else beside that? I'm going to shatter that glass and take the anti-venom to save Sousuke."

Haruka shook his head. "No. That will violate the rules."

"You're still fucking thinking about rules when Sousuke's life is in danger?" Rin glared at him, eyes burning with rage.

On the other hand, Haruka's eyes went icy. His voice came out quiet and steady. "If we break the rules, Makoto will—"

"I said this before—the hell with Makoto!" Rin shouted in rage, "Sousuke is dying in front of us!"

"Rin-san, calm down! We can still treat the venom—"

"How dare you!" Haruka screamed, pushing Rin hard and their bodies fell to the rough path. Haruka was on top of him, grabbing his collar. "How dare you say that about Makoto!"

"Makoto can wait, damn it!" Rin smacked his knee on Haruka's stomach, causing Haruka to cough and sending intense pain on his abdomen. "Sousuke is—"

"Makoto _cannot_ wait! He will kill Makoto right away if you break the glass!" Haruka shouted to Rin's face, tightening his grip.

"Haru-chan! Rin-chan! Stop it—just stop!" Nagisa was pulling Haruka away from Rin with all of his strength.

"So you're saying Makoto is more important? Because he's such a gem that we're all risking our lives here to save him, is that so?" Rin shouted back, "Then I'm sorry. If I have to sacrifice five just for one, I will rather—"

"Go away!" Haruka snapped as he pushed Rin harder to the ground, choking him. "Get away from here! I don't need someone like you to save Makoto! All of you—" Haruka turned to the rest of them, "—just leave this place and go back to your happy business for all I care! I'll go for Makoto alone. I don't need any one of you."

Haruka released Rin and stood up, jerking his body out of Nagisa's grip. He walked away and left Rin lying there.

Rin was staring blankly at the black sky. Haruka's words were carved deep inside him. Rin didn't know what possessed him into trying to break the glass and let Makoto got killed. For Rin, of course Makoto was important, and so was Sousuke. They were precious to him, and he loved both of them.

He turned his head, eyes met with Sousuke, who had lost consciousness, lying flat and motionless on the ground. What should he do? He was challenged to a difficult, impossible choice.

Makoto or Sousuke.

They couldn't go out. Sousuke would die eventually if the venom spread all over his blood, untreated. A little part of his heart cried for Sousuke. He fought the urge to cry as he clutched the hammer tighter in his grip. Rin stood up slowly from his place and walked toward the glass. He lifted his hammer despite Rei's alarming question about what he was going to do.

Anything for Sousuke's safety.

"Rin-chan!" Nagisa grabbed his body from behind, begging him to stop, holding him tight, but Rin jerked off.

:-:

Sounds of glass being shattered.

A piece of Haruka's heart shattered along with it. Waves of fury and rage overwhelmed him, all mixed up with fear and hatred. Hatred toward Rin.

 _"That's quite an act, Matsuoka Rin."_ Another speaker near him was turned on, _"What a good way to break my rules. Say your goodbye to Tachibana Makoto."_

"No." Haruka whispered, "No. Wait..." Haruka lifted his hands and buried his nails to the speaker, fingers trembling. "Stop! Don't kill him!" He was shouting now, "Don't kill Makoto! No!"

 _"Haru...?"_

It was Makoto's voice, weak, soft, and never registered to his mind as Haruka was screaming. Haruka didn't know if he'd ever stop his scream.

Once The Joker killed Makoto, he would kill Rin.

Then he would probably kill himself, as his heart would be no more, void, empty, and only darkness would remain.

* * *

 **I hope you enjoy this chapter so far. Replies for guest reviews:  
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 **For _Lady of the west:_ thank you! I'm so happy to know you like the first chapter so far. I will always try to do better. The last scene can be funny, especially Rei and his cowardice behavior.**

 **For _kanamexzero fan:_** **I'm glad you like it. More adventures will come. Thank you!**

 **Thank you for reading and see you on the next chapter! Reviews are so very welcomed.**


	3. Lost Love and New Resolve

**Thank you for leaving reviews! You guys made my day! Those are such great encouragements for me to write.**

 **There will be no game/ride/attraction in this chapter, but this one is necessary. There will be sexual abuse in this chapter, so consider yourself warned.**

 **Disclaimer: Free! and Free! Eternal Summer belong to KyoAni**

* * *

 **CHAPTER III**

 **LOST LOVE AND NEW RESOLVE**

Along with the shattered glass, the remaining habu snakes inside the claw crane machine went vicious as they were alarmed by the threatening shards of glass. Two snakes bared their fangs and struck on Rin's arms, their venomous fangs penetrated his skin and flesh. Rin let out a painful cry, stepping backward, desperately trying to jerk the ferocious snakes off his arms.

 _"That's quite an act, Matsuoka Rin. What a good way to break my rules. Say your goodbye to Tachibana Makoto."_

Nagisa shouted in panic, he jumped on Rei when the snakes from the machine fell to the ground and slid near him. Rei freaked out, but did his best to dodge the snakes sliding in different directions. Some of the snakes went past the motionless Sousuke and fortunately did no harm on him. Rin dropped his hammer and pulled a snake with his trembling hand, throwing it away, but one snake was constricting his wrist, fangs pierced his arm.

"Fuck—" Rin spitted out, forcefully pulling the snake off his wrist and grabbed his hammer on the ground. "I will kill this bastard—"

Before Rin could do anything, he was slammed down on the ground. Haruka was suddenly on top of him, hands wrapped around Rin's throat and squeezed it, cutting the air circulation in his lungs. Rin was breathless, trembling and coughing, liquid started to flow out of his mouth when Haruka tightened his hands. His red eyes were opened wide as blood started to leave his face to sheet white.

"Damn you— _fuck_ you! I will kill you, Rin!" Haruka never uttered such words in his life before, but that's before everything. Before he lost Makoto. Before his life and heart were crushed and teared and trampled mercilessly.

"Haru-chan, stop! Please stop!" Nagisa was crying now, tears streamed down uncontrollably on his cheeks. He wrapped his arms around Haruka's waist, trying to pull him away. "I don't want to lose anybody! Not Rin-chan, not Sou-chan and not Mako-chan! Please stop trying to make things worst!"

"Haruka-senpai!" Rei was soon joining Nagisa. He grabbed Haruka's arm, attempted to pull it away from Rin. "You're not thinking straight! Rin-san is your precious friend! You're not going to harm him, let alone kill him! Let him go!"

Rin's trembling hands were trying to jerk Haruka's hands off his throat, but he was too weak. No words could come out of him. His wide eyes never left Haruka. They spoke fear and dread.

Haruka's hands finally loosened up. Rei jerked them away from Rin, who was left coughing when he desperately trying to inhale some air.

A single drop of tear touched Rin's cheek as it fell from Haruka's ocean blue eyes, then two, and more droplets of salt tears. They drummed gently on Rin's face, trailing along his cheeks.

"Ha...ru...?" Rin finally managed to speak.

"Mako..." Haruka was crying, failed to even finish the name. Tears overflowed from those glimmering blue eyes, the same glimmer he often showed Makoto when he was elated. That particular one only Makoto could cause. This time, they were dampened by crystal clear tears.

Haruka's hands rested gently on Rin's shoulders. "Mako... I lost him... Rin. I... lost him already... since seven days ago," Haruka was trying to speak through his sobbing, "Now I've lost him again. Forever." Makoto was a huge part of his life. Haruka felt empty, like his soul had been teared apart, barely alive and close to death.

Tears started to well up on Rin's eyes.

Haruka gulped before he continued, his hands squeezed Rin's shoulders, "It happens. My... greatest fear. Why are you... trying to destroy me like this...? By taking away M-Mako—"

"I'm scared of losing Sousuke, too!" Rin cried, his tears mixed up with Haruka's. "That's why I..." he trailed off, "I don't know." He shut his eyes, tears squeezed out from them, "I don't know anymore."

"Makoto's gone, Rin..." Haruka's hands lifted up from his shoulders as he stood up, "he's gone. So..." He turned his head away, facing the claw crane machine. The anti-venom bottle was still lying inside. "Take your prize."

"Are you fuc...fuckin'...kidding me?" Rin sat up slowly, "I won't do that, dammit! Not after—not after all this!" Rin wiped his tears away, but they wouldn't stop flowing.

Haruka turned to him again. His cheeks were stained. "Why...?"

"O...Oi..." Rin stood up slowly, "Joker! Answer me, you bastard! You hear me, right?"

There was no answer. "Damn you! Listen—" He shouted to the speaker, "I didn't break any rules. I didn't even take the prize! Rule number three said we have to get our prize with fair play. I didn't _get that fucking damn prize,_ alright!? So be fair! Are you listening to me?"

An amused laugh came out from the speaker. Rin took a step back, his breaths heavy.

 _"You do have a point, Matsuoka. You're right. I haven't killed Tachibana... not yet. He's afraid of water, right? Of the ocean? I was going to drown him there, but alas, you found out sooner than I thought, that you haven't broken any rule. Not until you take those prizes, but you did take the snake."_ The Joker said. Rin wasn't going to lose.

"I didn't _take_ the snakes. They're going off on their own, damn you. I threw them _off_ _my_ arms!" Rin shouted in frustration.

Another laugh. Rin really wanted to hurt this Joker. _"Well, sooner or later, you and Yamazaki will die anyway. Until then."_ The speaker went off.

Rin grimaced as he held his bitten arm. The pain was stinging so badly on it, and he started to feel nausea in his gut. Rin closed his eyes, sighed heavily, and turned to face his friends. Haruka hadn't taken his eyes off Rin. His tears had stopped flowing, eyes widened in disbelief.

"Makoto is still alive...?" He whispered.

Rin smiled weakly, "Yeah. There is hope, Haru."

Haruka's eyes averted to Rin's arm. "And you got bitten...?"

"Uh-huh. Shit happens." Rin looked at Sousuke, fighting the urge to cry again.

"Emergency. Rei," Haruka turned to Rei, unconsciously glaring at him, "perform first-aid."

"H-huh? Alright!" Rei nodded, "Rin-san, follow my instructions. First, keep calm. That is most important, so the venom will take longer time to spread."

"Oi. What about Sousuke?" Rin pressed his hand to his chest, as if that would ease his heart.

Rei pushed his glasses on his eyes. "I have performed first-aid on him."

"What the—since when?"

Rei smiled weakly, "Since...you were arguing."

"You're doing a good job not to watch us broke down like babies." Rin sighed again, trying to breath evenly, but it got harder.

"Have you calmed down, Rin-san? Now... suck the venom out with your mouth. If you have to swallow it, do so. At least it's safer in your stomach rather than in your bloodstream. I know. Some people said not to do that, but we have no other choice. You're sure you have no wound in your mouth, right?"

Rin lifted his already numb arm to his mouth. "Suck..."

"Imagine you're sucking a really beautiful girl's mouth." Nagisa finally said. He had stopped crying, and now beaming Rin with a tired smile.

"Thanks for that. I will." Rin used his mouth to suck his wound as hard as he could. He really wanted to gag when his brain reminded that instead of a girl's mouth, he's sucking a gross snake saliva. Refusing to swallow them, Rin constantly spitted them out to the ground. "A girl's mouth won't taste this horrible. Is this really effective?"

"Not really." Rei nervously said, looking down.

"Why's that?"

"Venom enters the bloodstream really quickly, so sucking it out with mouth is more or less...useless. Also, I can't even cut your skin open. Not with my pocket knife. You don't want to get infection, right? I've said this before—we have no other choice!" Rei was messing his hair. "Next, keep your wound as far as possible from your heart. Any position so the venom will flow more slowly to your heart. Also, I'll have to cut off that wristband you're wearing." Rei lifted his pocket knife.

"Hey, don't. I'll just remove this—"

"No! That will need some 'squeezing' and it will threaten your blood pressure!" Rei approached him and cut off Rin's wristband with his pocket knife. "Don't argue."

Rin clenched his teeth.

"Don't clench you teeth."

"For love's sake. You need to shut up."

Rei sighed again. "For love's sake, make sure your clothing isn't tight." He pulled a bottle of water from his sling bag.

"No way, man. This is summer. I hate getting all sweats all over my clothes."

"Good. Now stay still." Rei washed Rin's wound with water, wiping it gently with a handkerchief. "I need a splint."

Haruka suddenly removed his belt and took off his trousers, revealing a black jammer, with purple and white strips, the same one he used to wear when swimming in Iwatobi High swim club. "Use this."

Rin's mouth hung open in disbelief. "You're wearing _that_ here?"

"Just in case." Haruka looked annoyed, "It doesn't bother me, anyway."

Rei's eyes twitched. "Okay, Haruka-senpai, now give me that. We should wash it first."

"What about Sousuke?" Rin averted his eyes to Sousuke. He noticed that his hand and fingers were already splinted with cloths.

"Sousuke-san has been treated. That's the best I could do for now." Rei dampened Haruka's jammer with water, squeezing it hard. He placed the jammer and folded them gently on Rin's arm, securing it with some bandages, but not too much or tight enough to bother Rin's blood pressure.

"Thank you, Rei. I owe you a lot." Rin's eyes were a little cloudy now, but his smile was a grateful one. Rin fought the urge to cry. He could easily cry, but he had to stand strong, just like Sousuke had told him to do.

If Rin took the anti-venom to save Sousuke and himself, there was big chance they would live, but that would ensure Makoto's death. That's why he didn't take the anti-venom, because when he did so, none of them would die...yet. He and Sousuke would probably have only several hours to survive, but as long as they're alive, there's hope. Rin wanted to believe that, and relied on that hope—on his friends, because he believed them with all of his heart.

And a little part of him believed in Makoto, because in all situations, Makoto was still the captain—a leader, their anchor, and he put his hope on Makoto, too. Whatever hope that wished for stability and safety, and all good things, and freedom. Because despite his appearance, despite his sweet nature, despite everything you might have seen from him, Makoto was probably the strongest of them all. Rin had always known that.

Rei stared at Rin for a while before his smile broke out from his chapped lips. "Yes." He closed his eyes for a while before pushing his glasses again. "Now, sit down or lie down, whichever you prefer. You need to rest, and don't forget to calm down."

"I'm calm." Rin smiled a little, "But we shouldn't waste any more time. Let's move on."

:-:

"You hear them, right?"

Makoto didn't move an inch. Someone approached him, sitting on the table in which he had been chained to since he was captured.

"Aren't you touched?"

Of course he was. He felt so useless and like a burden that he really wanted to kill himself. He had put his friends in great danger, and here he was. Helpless, unable to do anything. He was utterly disgusted by own self. Rin should've taken that anti-venom to save Sousuke and himself. What made him change his mind? Makoto was ready to die. He wanted to die before The Joker did more harm on his precious friends. Why should they be so...wonderful? He didn't deserve them in the slightest.

What's so valuable about Makoto that his friends didn't want to give up yet? What were they hoping for? Rin had to take that anti-venom. He _should._

Makoto wanted to die. If only his hands were free, he would use that opportunity to kill himself, if it was impossible for him to kill The Joker.

"Wanna play a game?"

His fists clenched, pulling the chains despite all the gashes on his wrists.

"If you win, I will give you very valuable prizes." A breath on his ear, and a soft whisper followed after. "Bottles of anti-venoms and medical equipments for your dear friends."

He stopped pulling.

"But the ticket isn't free." A hand rested on his stomach, "It will cost you something rather valuable, but it's still cheap for me, anyway." A soft laugh. He whispered something to Makoto's ears. "If you agree to pay, nod your head a little."

Makoto did so.

"Good. Be a good boy, now." His finger nudged on a strip of duct tape covering Makoto's mouth, pulling it away, slowly. Dying skins of Makoto's cracked lips were pulled away as the duct tape was released, leaving some areas on his lips bleeding.

A mouth—unfamiliar, disgusting, sour, and sinful—sucked his lips, tongue insisted to part his lips and slipped through inside. Makoto was ready to throw up. Rough hands seized his shirt, tearing the fabric away with force. They ran through his exposed upper body, groping impatiently. Once that dirty, lustful mouth pulled away from Makoto, it landed on different sensitive parts of his body, leaving Makoto shuddering in disgust, hatred, and anger.

He had agreed to this. He had to submit.

"It's cheap, isn't it? You're cheap, too." The voice was breathless.

Once he's done, he bit Makoto's earlobe gently before whispering. "Now, I will explain the rules. Listen carefully."

:-:

"It's not so bad here, thanks to these colorful lights." Nagisa walked beside Rei and Sousuke, his arm holding Sousuke. Rei helped him to support Sousuke's body weight.

"Yea..." Sousuke was too weak to reply properly, but he managed a smile. He woke up before they started to move on, still too weak to stand by himself, but that still might be a good sign.

"Rin, are you sure you're okay?" Haruka asked in concern, arm around Rin's shoulders, holding him as carefully as possible.

"I'm not that weak. Sousuke, you're rather pathetic." Rin turned to Sousuke, flashing a weak grin. He was still struggling a little to breath.

"Hey... I got... bitten four times, dammit. The venoms... are messing with me..." Sousuke's brows furrowed. Rin released a soft laugh.

"Rin." It was Haruka's voice, coming out soft from his mouth, "I'm sorry for everything I did to you." Haruka looked guilty as he turned to face Rin directly. He was clearly sad and regretted what he had done and said to Rin.

"No worries, Haru. No worries. This isn't the first time you did this to me anyway." Despite his words, Rin was clearly touched. He smiled warmly at Haruka, eyes drooped, but they looked happy. Haruka read forgiveness from those eyes, and his heart fluttered.

Haruke finally released a little smile, "Rin, thank you." He turned his head to his other friends, "Everyone, thank you. It's because of all of you, we can stand strong like this."

The rest of them all turned their attention to Haruka.

"Nagisa, thank you for holding us back for doing... shameful and stupid things." Haruka smiled at Nagisa, "And thank you for lightening up the mood. You're like... our energy, who gives us new spirit every time we worn out."

Nagisa's magenta eyes were glimmering as he listened. "H-Haru-chan..." his pinched his nose, "you're going to make me c-cry..."

"Nagisa-kun!" Rei exclaimed, "Don't cry again."

"Rei." Haruka turned to Rei, "I really can't imagine what horrible things would happen to us if you're not there with us. You saved us all, Rei. You _saved our lives._ " Haruka paused, "Thank you."

"H-Haruka-senpai." Rei looked like he was ready to cry.

"Rei-chan! Don't cry again!" Nagisa mimicked him.

"I didn't cry! So using 'again' is not right, Nagisa-kun!"

"Sousuke." Haruka's head tilted down. He looked ashamed. "Thank you so much. You... what you did was brave, and put me to shame." His words trailed off as they grew softer.

Sousuke was staring at him, looking indifferent. His eyes met with Haruka's, when the raven-haired finally looked up to face him.

"I should be the one who got bitten. I should be the one who volunteered, but you took a step faster than me. Even though you're bitten several times, you refused to pull your hand out of that slot so you wouldn't break any rule. You _are_ the bravest one among us, Sousuke. So... thank you. Thank you for doing what you've done for Makoto. You... from what I know, you barely had any conversation with Makoto, but you're willing to put your life in front for him—I... I don't know how to express my thank you anymore. You being here with us is already...overwhelming."

"That word... can cause misunderstanding." Sousuke closed his eyes as he smiled, a soft one, "But... be grateful that I can understand what you mean by... overwhelming. Sure, Haru." When he looked at Sousuke, his teal eyes were soft and friendly, "We will get Makoto back with us. He's also... a precious friend... of mine, too."

"We'll do our best to save you and Rin." Haruka looked determined, "You're going to be safe."

"Heh. Thanks for that."

Haruka let out a deep breath of relief before he turned to face Rin, a smile adorned on his lips. "Rin."

"Yeah? What's your speech for me, Haru? I hope that one will be the best among them."

The smile on Haruka's lips vanished. "Rin, stop being an idiot and a jerk. That's it."

"Hey!"

When Haruka sighed again, his lips were quivering. "Thank you for your decision. Thank you for... not taking that anti-venom even though you and Sousuke were bitten. Thank you for giving hope to Makoto."

Rin was gazing at him, his red eyes refused to even blink.

"You're not giving up hope. I know, Rin. Thank you. We will do the best of us not to disappoint you. Rely on us, because here, you've got us. And we've got you. We're not alone. We're together in this. So, Rin... thank you for hoping, for tomorrow and the day after that, for hoping for safety, hoping for Makoto."

Rin felt like an opened book, and Haruka had read every word of his mind. "How...?"

"Because... there's no other reason for your action. Right?" Haruka looked away from Rin, facing the rest of his friends.

When Rin did the same, Sousuke, Rei, and Nagisa were smiling at him.

"Rin-san, you're amazing. What you did, and your decision are beautiful."

"Rin-chan, you can rely on us. Put your faith with us, because we're going to see tomorrow, and the day after that, together. We're going to see more and more sunrises together with Mako-chan, too."

"Rin." Sousuke smiled at him. That smile spoke everything: hope and trust, admiration, satisfaction, gratefulness, love. A smile that spoke unbreakable bonds. No more words needed to be exchanged, because Rin understood Sousuke too well, better than anyone.

Rin nodded. He wouldn't cry any more. Not now, because he felt too strong to cry. Too strong and determined and full of spirit to shed a single tear. His friends were giving him the ability to survive, to hope, and to fight, and Rin wasn't going to waste even the smallest bit of them.

"Everyone, look. I found something."

Rin and the others were looking at Nagisa before they followed the blonde's gaze. Nagisa's eyes were fixed on a board standing beside the brick path.

"It looks like a map." Rei and Nagisa carefully held Sousuke as they walked together to face the wide board.

"A map?" Rin uttered in disbelief, "The map of this place?"

Arm tightened a bit around Rin's shoulders, Haruka took a step forward to the board.

"I... don't know. The words have faded away." Rei looked more closely, "I can't read most of the words."

"Figured." Sousuke sighed.

Nagisa, on the other hand, looked completely surprised. "Whoaa—!" He exclaimed, mesmerized by the sight in front of him.

"What's wrong?" Rin failed to notice anything extraordinary from the map.

" _Haruka's Atlantis_ and _Makoto's Skyworld._ "

"What?" Rin was taken aback.

"Look! Look!" Nagisa pointed at one end of the map. "Do you read that? _Makoto's Skyworld_!"

The rest of the map were faded and indecipherable, but some words were still visible. _The Ferris Wheel, The Roller Coaster, The Bloody Mary, The Clinic,_ yet none of them paid attention. Their eyes were all fixed on the words pointed out by Nagisa.

" _Makoto's... Skyworld._ " Haruka blinked several times, making sure he didn't read them wrong.

"And _Haruka's Atlantis._ " Rei pointed at another part of the map. A blue, wavy sign was visible on it, indicating a place with water. The words ' _Haruka's Atlantis_ ' were there, written in faded ocean blue ink.

"No shit." Rin's eyes were wide, "Is The Joker trying to mess with us?"

"What kind of places will those be?" Nagisa seemed enthusiastic, "Or could those be some kind of attraction? A ride? They sound so dreamy."

"Not a single thing is dreamy in this shitty Happyville." Sousuke grunted, "Be careful... of what you believe."

Haruka suddenly wondered about the bottled map in the claw crane machine. It didn't seem to consist only one map. There were several papers scrolled inside it. He wondered what he would find in this place. He wondered if his 'Atlantis' and Makoto's 'Skyworld' really exist in that map. He wondered if he would find Makoto there, in his so-called 'Skyworld'. Makoto was probably waiting for him there.

Haruka loved the water, Makoto loved the sky. How good did The Joker know about them?

"Guys, guys." Rin's voice snap Haruka out of his trance. "Seems like we've arrived at our first... ride."

Everyone had abandoned their attention from the map. Haruka followed their gazes. He saw something in the distance. Something very familiar. Poles and horses. The ride was a bit higher and different than usual, but it was easily recognized by anybody. A carousel.

A Merry-Go-Round.

"Be ready, guys. That claw crane machine was just a warm-up game, right?" Rin looked weaker than ever. The venom was starting to give more impact in his body. "That will probably be our first stage. Remember: trust each other. Work hand-in-hand. United, we will stand."

:-:

When Makoto woke up, he wasn't chained, nor there was a blindfold obscuring his vision. The place was dark, but he could still see. There's nothing around, only a bed in which he was lying on, and a door.

He slowly sit up, feeling sharp pain on his leg. The Joker had stabbed him so suddenly to convince his friends that The Joker had him, that it sent shock to Makoto and he couldn't help but scream. It felt like his bone had been cracked. He carefully ran his hand on his injured leg, and it had been treated, tightly bandaged.

He tried to fight the remaining pain and move. When he did so, something fell from the bed and startled his weak heart with its cluttering sound. After a moment of hesitating, Makoto's hand carefully took the thing lying on the floor. It was a flashlight.

Makoto gulped before turning it on. He casted the ray of light to the one and only door in the room. He had to reach there, and go out. He slowly stood up, his free hand rested on the wall. He couldn't walk properly. His leg stung with so much pain. He fought his best not to stumble until he finally reached the doorknob.

The Joker's voice rang several times inside his head.

' _You're going to play hide-and-seek.'_

He turned the doorknob as carefully as he could before making his way out of the room, facing the lone, dark corridor.

 _'I will send you to a clinic. Find your way to the room with anti-venoms. Be careful. There are many 'its' wandering around in the clinic. Your job is simple: reach the room and take all the things you need to save your friends, without getting captured by any of the 'it'.'_

Resting his back on the wall and putting the flashlight on the floor, Makoto softly slapped both his cheeks to encourage himself.

 _Game on._

* * *

 **Notes:**

 **Here are some responses for guest reviews:**

 **For _guest:_ Thank you! I hope your curiosity will be satisfied now.**

 **For _kanamexzero fan:_ I'm happy to find out your reactions to that chapter. Thank you! Update is up now, dear.**

 **For _Lady of the west:_ Thank you so much! If I'm being Rin, I don't think I can think clearly enough to make the wisest decision, really. I hope you'll be satisfied by this chapter.**

 **Thank you for reading. I really appreciate reviews and comments. See you on the next chapter!**


	4. Shades of Red

**All of you who left reviews, read, put to favorites, and have followed this story, you have my gratitude. Thank you!**

 **This chapter will be focused only on Makoto's POV. In a game of hide-and-seek, just in case someone doesn't know, the one who is tasked to seek is called 'It'. I can't really tell if this chapter will freak someone out, but just to be safe, consider yourself warned.**

* * *

 **CHAPTER IV**

 **SHADES OF RED  
**

 **:-:**

Tachibana Makoto, despite being the most sensible person among his group of swimmers, also possessed the highest level of imaginations. The most creepiest things possible had crossed his mind, haunting him along the way. He believed the clinic was haunted.

 _Game on._

Such ridiculous words to be thought of for someone like Makoto, who actually had chickened out the moment he woke up in one of the dark rooms of the clinic. It was the great determination to save Rin and Sousuke that drove him to participate, the little hope to see Haruka again, and Nagisa, Rei, Rin, and Sousuke.

He missed them. A lot. He even missed Sousuke—the one he barely talked to before, but now, if he could see Sousuke, Makoto probably couldn't be more glad and happier. If they ever meet again, Makoto wanted to run to them and gave each of them his biggest bear hug, and his brightest smile, although Makoto wasn't sure if he could smile at that time.

If he would meet with Haruka again, Makoto was sure he would cry _._ He thought he could be independent and be apart from Haruka, but he knew he couldn't. Years ago, during middle school, he had tried to go to places where Haruka wasn't there. He wanted to know if he would be okay without Haruka.

He wasn't okay. Without Haruka, Makoto couldn't be his usual self anymore, because Haruka had been a part of Makoto. The other half of him.

For now, all those moments where they could meet each other again—enjoying each other's company, laughing and crying together—were just dreams. They didn't promise anything. The fear of crushed hopes and never reaching his dreams were starting to build up inside Makoto.

That fear had come and gone, and now it came back again, along with his fear of the 'things' that were wandering in the same building as him. If Makoto encountered the 'thing', or 'It'—as The Joker called it—he wouldn't be able to run. His leg was injured, and that scared him the most.

"I will be fine..." Makoto whispered to himself, leaning his arm against the wall, having difficulties to walk properly. "Everything will be fine. Fine. Fine..." he chanted, ignoring the cold sweat running along his spine. He made his way awkwardly through the dark and cold corridor. His shirt had been torn, dangling in its pathetic state at the sides of his torso. At least it could still cover him a little bit from the cold, like a buttonless jacket.

He used his flashlight only to lighten up the floor he was going to step on. He was too scared to cast the light further—too scared to know what might be lurking in front of him.

The place could be called 'dead'. It must be _dead_ , since it was cold, too dark and extremely quiet, safe for his own footsteps. Makoto kept trying to ease his trembling heart. _If there's not a single sound, that means 'It' isn't around, right?_

 _'It' should be able to be heard. 'It' wasn't a ghost, so 'It' could be heard._

After telling himself that, Makoto desperately needed both his arms to hug himself. _But what if 'It' is actually a... a... spirit not belonging to this world...?_

His game had just started, but his legs already felt so weak. Makoto was amazed he's still able to stand. He wanted this journey throughout the corridor to be over, but he didn't meet a single turn yet.

"Why does it seem so long...?" Makoto whined. He needed to speak to fill in the uncomfortable silence around him. At least he wasn't alone. He had himself—his mouth, his arms, his legs—if that would ease him just a little, he would think that he's accompanied by at least his own body, which was true, right?

His shaking hand tightened its grip on the flashlight, still directing it toward the floor. The tiles were dirty, yellowed with brownish stains, but Makoto could guess they were originally white in color.

Suddenly, he spotted one particular tile that seemed to be different. There were words on it, written with a soft pink marker.

 **LOOK UP**

Makoto stared at the floor, blinking his eyes several times. He huffed before closing his eyes. He refused to obey. He continued walking, ignoring the message on the floor. His flashlight caught another message on the floor, written in a darker shade of pink.

 **LOOK UP**

He didn't want to. What if he saw something standing at the end of the corridor, waiting for him? With long hair, white gown, and blood smeared all over its body and staining the gown?

Those thoughts sent shiver on his body. Makoto fought the urge to bang his head to the wall. Perhaps a little pain on his head would be able to kick those disturbing images out of his again, perhaps it was better for him to see that 'something' in the distance rather than when he was already close to it. After taking deep breaths several times while messaging his chest, he lifted his eyes a little.

Darkness.

There was nothing in front of him. No unwanted shadow there. Makoto directed his flashlight to the area far in front of him. Nobody was standing on the floor, but there was indeed something.

A pot of dead plant standing at the end of the corridor, which led to two turns. Left and right, and a wall between them, with a word on it, painted in bright maroon color.

 **LEFT**

"Should I follow...?"

When Makoto finally reached the wall, he rested his back at the right side of the wall before carefully took a peek at the right way. It was extremely dark that he couldn't see a thing. Just one or two things at the side that seemed to be doors. Makoto turned his head forward to take a look at the left path. It was brighter—at least because there were glass windows at the side of the corridor, which allowed the moonlight to penetrate through.

For Makoto, it was an obvious choice. He would follow the message anyway. Makoto stretched out his arm, trying to reach the other side of the wall in front of him before his leg collapsed. When his palm slammed against the wall, he stumbled again, but managed not to fall.

The moment he turned his head, he found something lying behind the potted dead plant. Something long and sturdy.

A cane.

He had been using the wall as his support. A cane would help him a lot. He reached the cane behind the plant and spotted something else lying on top of the barren soil inside the pot. A pack of matches.

Makoto took it and stuffed it inside his pocket. Supporting himself with a cane, Makoto was relieved when he made his way through the corridor on the left. Finally he was able to see the moonlight. He took a peek outside the window, curious about his exact location in this building. He was in the first floor, beside this building was something like a garden...

He furrowed his brow, green eyes drooped in curiosity. Outside the window wasn't a garden. It was a cemetery. Several gravestones lined up, and a huge, old tree was also visible, standing among the many graves.

Regretting his decision to take a peek outside, Makoto chanted a song he had just composed at that very moment, to calm his weak heart down. He didn't care if he was being heard—he needed to do this in order to stay conscious, or he would faint. Despite his ignorance, he still kept his volume as low as possible.

" _I have a friend, his name is Haru. Haru is here with me. In my heart...at least. I have other friends. They are Nagisa, Rei, then Rin, then a nice guy named Sousuke. They're here with me in my heart, at least."_

Halfway through the moonlit corridor, Makoto was thinking while continuing his song over and over. What if the room with the anti-venoms were actually there at the right path from the previous corridor? When he wanted to get his prize, there must be a sacrifice. At least, that's what he usually encountered when he played a video game. A better prize was placed in the worst place, not the 'safe' one.

Makoto was about to turn around to take another peek to the other corridor when his flashlight casted something in front of him. It was a toilet sign, dangling on the wall, just on top of a door several steps away at his side. The nails holding the sign had already loosened, and it looked like the sign was about to fall at any time. The sign indicated that the door beside Makoto was a door to the ladies' bathroom.

Of course, Makoto didn't have the slightest desire to enter it, but a message he found on the wall might change his mind. It was written in red, just beside the door to the ladies' bathroom.

 **H E R E**

For some unknown reason, the gaps between each streak of the paint were wider this time. Makoto stared at the word for quite a long time. Could he really trust this unconvincing message? This seemed like the only guidance for him. He couldn't risk walking around blindly, wasting time, encountering 'Its', and losing the game. Both decisions had their own risks, he should take just one.

Entering the ladies' bathroom in a place like this was the last thing he wanted to do, but what if one of the things he needed was actually here?

"Haru is here with me." Makoto rubbed his chest gently, feeling his rapid heartbeats. "And for the sake of my friends, I will..." he stopped in front of the door, gulping, "risk anything."

With that, he slowly turned the doorknob and revealed a dark room with four toilet stalls. A wide, broken mirror was placed in front of the sink. Makoto moved his flashlight around, checking for anything he could get from the room. A red can of gasoline was there just beside the stalls, seemingly out of place.

After making sure the bathroom was empty, Makoto approached the red can. "Gasoline...?" He questioned as he saw the fire sign adhered to the surface. He tried to lift it slowly and it was still a bit heavy. This can wasn't empty. Should he take it?

Makoto was still hesitating when he noticed that one of the toilet stalls was closed. The other stalls were all empty and the doors were wide open, except the one at the corner. Makoto squinted his eyes. He didn't like it. Not at all and not in the slightest. But what if...?

The brunet walked awkwardly toward the closed stall with his cane. Every step he took seemed to sound louder and louder. Stopping in front of the closed stall, Makoto carefully turned his flashlight to the floor, letting the light slipped through the narrow blank space there. He wanted to make sure that something wasn't lurking behind the old door.

He thought he just needed to fight his fear, and everything was only his wild imaginations' fault that he was acting like this. All he needed was courage.

Yet when the light he casted on spotted something behind the closed door, he realized that his greatest fear had broken itself out to reality.

He saw a pair of feet behind the door. A pale, almost sheet-white feet, with nails as red as cherry—or probably blood.

Fighting the urge to scream, Makoto took some steps backward. He dropped his flashlight to the floor in shock. His heart beat too hard against his ribcage that he could hear it clearly in his ears. His waist bumped hard against the sink and it sent another shock to his already weak heart. The brunet cried out a whimper and quickly turned, only to saw himself reflected in the mirror.

Something was written on the mirror, so red and dark—bloody red in color.

 **I T**

 **I S**

 **BEHIND**

 **Y O U**

Green eyes opened wide, Makoto saw on the reflection that he wasn't alone. The closed door of the toilet stall was now opened, and a woman was behind him. Her head was lifted as low as his waist, her arms and legs crawling on the floor. She was pale—extremely pale, with very, very wide lips—painted bloody red lips that stretched along her cheeks. Her bloodshot, unnaturally wide eyes were staring back at Makoto on the mirror, hiding behind the bangs of her long black hair.

His heart must have stopped.

Makoto was left with two choices: scream or faint.

He let out a horrifying scream, terrors and dread consumed his whole being. He couldn't think straight, his body trembled so hard, begging him to faint instead. Rejecting what his body asked him to do, Makoto used his cane to run, but his legs were shaking so hard that they immediately collapsed.

The woman was in front of him, legs and arms crawling shakily and awkwardly toward him. Makoto's wide eyes captured some words above the woman's head, painted on the wall inside the toilet stall.

 **ANTIVENOM**

 **I S**

 **H E R E**

It snapped him back to his senses. That's what he was aiming for.

 _The anti-venom._

To save Rin and Sousuke. To have the possibility to meet up with Haruka again, and all his other friends. Makoto previously wanted to die, but he had now clinging to a fragile hope, and he must not waste his hope.

Not for some creatures that tried to scare him off. He shouldn't lose. Not now.

Refusing to look at the creature, Makoto used the strength of his arms to slide his body, crawling toward the gasoline can beside the first stall. He moved as fast as he could, blood rushing in his ears, aware of the woman trying to grab him from behind.

He made it to the gasoline can. "Stay back!" He screamed, lifted the can with his arm threateningly. The woman crawled slowly to him, wide bloodshot eyes never left Makoto. Her head turned in an inhumanly gesture.

Still refusing to look at her, Makoto shut his eyes when he faced her. He turned the can open and threw the whole content toward the creature, soaking her wet with gasoline. Makoto dropped the can and rummaged his pocket in panic, taking out a pack of matches.

Her hand barely touched Makoto's ankle when the brunet struck a match and threw it toward her. The ignited fire blazed up, quickly consuming the creature's whole body as it reacted to the gasoline, setting her on fire.

As her body cracked up by the fire, Makoto frantically grabbed his cane and tried his best to stand up, making his way toward the opened toilet stall where the creature had originally came from. His heart did a leap when he saw a bag of medical equipments lying on a closed lid of the closet. He stumbled to the front, almost banging his head to the closet. A rush of relief started to replace his fear when his hand touched the bag.

:-:

The woman turned out to be another wooden doll. Makoto managed to have a last look before he left the bathroom. The creature's body crackled while the fire consumed her, and he realized that her body was made of wood.

Making his way throughout several corridors of the clinic, Makoto learned that the words in different shades of red were actually quite friendly—at least they helped him. He figured out that when a word was written in lighter color, that meant 'It' wasn't around—still far from his location, but the redder the words, that meant 'It' was nearer.

He had encountered several things that could potentially be another 'It'. Whenever he found a wide streaks of bloody red words, he could hear footsteps that wasn't his own, and all he had to do was to hide or avoid the place. Makoto started to put his trust on the words written on the walls. When the words said 'here', that meant there's something useful for him to take around the area.

The bag of medical equipments, however, was quite a disappointment for Makoto. It only consisted of a tiny bottle of anti-venom and a syringe, which he believed wasn't enough to treat Rin and Sousuke's injuries. Makoto concluded that he had to take another bag.

His little journey was interrupted with a simple word on a door, in dark maroon color.

 _ **REDRUM**_

Unlike the other words, it was written in alphabets. English alphabets. English had always been Makoto's worst subject, and he didn't understand the word on the door at all, although it seemed somewhat familiar. In his effort to dig his brain, he caught that _RED_ meant 'red', and _RUM_ meant... what?

Should he enter?

Makoto moved his flashlight around, searching for another clue from the word. He spotted one familiar bloody-red word on the wall on top of the _REDRUM_ door.

 **H E R E**

Of course with its usual wide streak. 'It' might be lurking inside this room, but it also meant that what he had been searching for was inside. Makoto wasn't sure if he would be ready for another 'It', but Rin and Sousuke couldn't wait. They _shouldn't_ wait.

Slowly and with care, he opened the door.

It was a patient's bedroom, and of course, dark. There's a narrow window on the wall, just inches below the ceiling, but enough for a cast of moonlight to illuminate the room. A single bed was inside, with a desk and a wardrobe. The desk was just beside the bed, and Makoto could see another medical bag on top of it. Above the bag, however, were some words written in the darkest red he'd ever encountered in this clinic.

 **ANTIVENOM**

 **I S**

 **H E R E**

 **.**

 **I T**

 **I S**

 **BESIDE**

 **Y O U**

Refusing to foolishly enter the room, Makoto looked around, heart pounding in a rush.

There were two possibilities.

'It' might be crawling out from under the bed, or 'It' might be bursting out from inside the wardrobe.

Makoto _hated it._ He hated this game—he hated 'It', and he'd never been so unhappy playing _hide-and-seek_ before, and this little childish game should be the _worst game ever created._

His friendly flashlight (one thing that he'd happily called as a friend throughout his dark journey) alerted him of another potential friend of Makoto: a crowbar leaning against the wall.

Makoto crouched down slowly, putting his flashlight on the floor and took the crowbar. The tiny cast of moonlight should be enough for him to see what he'd wanted to see. Makoto clutched the crowbar and brought it along while he made his way toward the bag of medical equipment lying on the desk. He eyed both the wardrobe and the bed warily.

A door suddenly slammed shut and locked behind him.

"Oh my God..." Makoto whispered, voice weak and trembling like dandelion fluffs blown by strong wind. He suddenly remembered about the word _REDRU_ _M._ Makoto liked to read books, and he'd encountered the word at least two or three times. As much as he hated to read horror novels, his knowledge about popular books did help him knew one or two popular words.

As he walked, he realized that the word _'REDRUM'_ in English was _'MURDER'_ spelled backwards, and that word meant...

Before he could find out about the answer, the wardrobe beside him burst opened. Makoto quickly turned his head, his scream caught up in his throat as a huge muscular man in black pushed him hard, crashing Makoto's back to the floor. The man's face was painted like a clown—unnaturally big mouth with sharp teeth, white face, red round nose. What terrified Makoto the most was the sharp blade of an axe shone under the moonlight, lifted up in front of his face.

The clown man swung the axe toward his face. Horror stricken, Makoto cried out in terror, jerking his head to the side and the axe crashed through the surface of the floor just beside his head, cutting a bit of his strands of olive-brown hair.

"NO!" Makoto screamed, struggling wildly, "Get off me— _get off me_!" He shouted as his uninjured leg swung to the clown man's balls, hitting them hard with his knee.

The moment he did that, he could feel this mysterious murderer clown was getting weak. With shivering arms, Makoto pushed him away as hard as he could, jerking his body free. Using his knee to straighten up, Makoto lifted his crowbar. "Don't come closer, or I will—"

The clown man suddenly moved toward him again, swinging his axe hard. Crying out, Makoto shut his eyes, using his crowbar to protect himself. The sturdy crowbar endured the axe's sharp edge, but Makoto lost his balance as both tools clashed against each other. He was pushed back to the floor, facing the murderer again.

 _Fight._

Makoto gripped his crowbar harder. "Haru's with me..." he whispered to himself, "and I will save Rin and Sousuke and meet with everyone again."

Another swing of the axe, and Makoto pushed his crowbar to the clown man's stomach, stabbing him with its bent edge. Once the man dropped his head down as his stomach was stabbed so suddenly, Makoto pulled the crowbar away and knocked it on the murderer's back head, sending him lying unconscious on the floor.

Makoto didn't realize that he was out of breath until he was sure the man wouldn't get back up again—at least not so soon. Breathing rapidly, he saw something dangling on the man's side pocket. A set of keys.

He carefully took it, sliding the keys slowly from the pocket. After managing himself to stand back up again, he walked toward the desk and took his second medical bag. He peeked inside, finding another bottle of anti-venom and all other things he needed to treat Rin and Sousuke.

Finally, he obtained all his prizes. What he needed to do now was escaping this place.

He was extremely tired, mostly from the fears consuming him and all the fights and efforts to hide and run. His body ached all over, but he shouldn't relax now. He turned back toward the door and unlocked it with one of the keys he'd taken.

:-:

 **I T**

 **I S**

 **N E A R**

Makoto didn't make a sound as he crouched down, hiding himself at a turn of a corridor. Footsteps were heard. Probably another 'It' who locked him from the outside before. His hand was ready with the crowbar.

When the footsteps were getting near, Makoto tightened his grip again.

Someone was moving past him, and he swung his crowbar to the person's legs. As the person stumbled, Makoto carefully hit his head with his crowbar—barely enough to make the person unconscious. Refusing to see another form of the 'It', he escaped.

:-:

 **F E A R**

 **M E**

The words on the wall refused to stop appearing as Makoto carefully made his way toward the exit, all of them with dark shade of red, although not the darkest one like before. Now the words were all around him that it was a bit overwhelming, but some of them were still helpful, showing him the way to the exit. Makoto swung his flashlight around.

 **A R E**

 **Y O U**

 **AFRAID**

 **O F**

 **T H E**

 **D A R K**

 **?**

Makoto ignored them. The words were probably there to wear himself out. He was already weary, and if those words tried to suck out his energy, Makoto wouldn't allow it. Holding two medical bags in his arm, Makoto was having difficulty to keep his flashlight up straight. His eyes were already adjusted to the dark surrounding, and there was the moonlight. He considered to drop his flashlight.

He did, the moment he saw the exit sign.

 _Finally._

If he could run, he would. Supporting himself with a cane, he tried to run—almost stumbled, but he was too enthusiastic to slow down. Slamming his body to the exit doors, he pushed them open.

A gust of wind welcomed him, slapping his cheeks with cool touches. Makoto looked up and saw the sky—a moonlit horizon glowing with beautiful stars. His green eyes glimmered the moment they caught the scenery.

Makoto made it outside, with all the things he needed to save his friends.

Eyes shut, he uttered the word ' _yes'_ under his breath. His heart were beating enthusiastically in triumph. Taking several steps outside, his legs collapsed to the ground. His arms securely wrapped around the medical bags. These would save Rin and Sousuke—and he could probably meet them again.

Makoto was so relieved that his tears finally broke out and rolled on his cheeks. Just three or four droplets, but those tiny droplets were made as the results from all the pressures his fears had befallen him, from all the relief and happiness and triumph—and also hope to see his friends again.

"Thank God..." he whispered, " _thank God_."

 _"Congratulations, Tachibana Makoto."_

He was never so relieved before to be able to hear The Joker's voice. It was actually a nice change, after all the quiet and mysterious sounds and footsteps in the clinic behind him.

 _"You have won the game."_

"Haru..." Still shutting his eyes, Makoto clutched the bags tighter, like they were his personal treasures, "Thank you."

* * *

 **Notes:**

 **You probably have known about the popular word 'Redrum'. It's 'Murder' spelled backwards, and has been used in some medias, but originally it most likely started from Stephen King's _The Shining_ (I never read the book but there's a picture of it).**

 **Another reference I might be using is the 'It' as a clown, like in Stephen King's 'It', but be mindful that the 'It' in this chapter means the 'It' as in a game of hide-and-seek.**

 **For** _ **kanamexzero fan:**_ Thank you! Right, it's an 'eww'. I'm sorry, Mako. I planned to reveal The Joker around 5 to 6 chapters before the ending, if everything goes as planned, of course. As always thank you and you're welcome.

 **For _Lady of the west:_** Thank you! I'm glad you like it, and I hope I can present more and more surprises. I also hope you enjoyed this chapter as well!

 **Reviews are very much appreciated. See you on the next chapter.**


	5. Photographs Under the Water

**Thank you soo very much for leaving your lovely reviews, subscriptions, and putting this story to favorites. They mean a lot to me!**

 **For any one of you who's also reading my other fic, _For the Fragmented Soul_ , I've mentioned about _Surfing Their Tides_ being the next in line for update. I'm so sorry. I didn't expect I will finish this chapter sooner, but _STT_ will be updated soon.**

 **All I can say is thank you so much and I hope you relax and enjoy the little ride.**

* * *

 **CHAPTER V**

 **Photographs Under the Water**

 **:-:**

Carefully wrapping an arm around Rin's shoulders, Haruka made his way toward the area where they could see the carousel. The brick path they had taken eventually led them to a wider brick-covered area with more street lamps and colorful, translucent lights. If they weren't in such a frustrating situation, they would enjoy the beauty of those lamps showing their fullest potential around the dark playground and under the moonlight. Rei would exclaim how beautiful they were, but for now, he knew very well when to keep his mouth shut.

Before reaching the carousel ride, the group took their time to check out an arcade house. Using some flashlights they've brought, they found several minor games inside the dark room: a harmless-looking claw crane machine (with actual dust-covered stuffed animals inside), shooting games, bowling arcade games, and some rows of pinball machines. After making sure none of the games are important, they quickly made their way outside and toward the carousel.

What they didn't expect was how the carousel was more unique than the typical merry-go-round. The horses on the poles weren't ordinary horses. Instead of back legs, they had a curled-up, long fish tail. What fascinated Haruka the most were not the horses, but a large volume of water under them, encased in a circular aquarium enveloping the whole bottom area of the merry-go-round.

The glass of the circular aquarium created some gaps, in which a stair stood firmly in between for each gap. Their bottoms were connected to the brick path, and the tops of them were connected to a short path made of metal, allowing safe access to the poled horses. The other difference was that each row only had one horse, and the other one was behind it. There were no poled horses positioned beside each other.

To Rei's silent approval, the aquarium wasn't empty. The bottom of the aquarium was illuminated by bright little lamps. A large amount of colorful, various kinds of goldfishes were swimming inside. Long cables of christmas lights wrapped around the solid center pillar of the carousel. The roof edges of the carousel were shaped like water flows, with fishes made of silver and gold materials dangling under them and under the ceiling.

"B-beautiful..." Rei finally commented, unable to hold his tongue any longer. "Beautiful, but..." he adjusted his spectacles, his purple eyes squinted, "why is there a mackerel swimming among them, too?"

A mackerel was indeed there, swimming along with the many goldfishes, larger and longer than its companions.

"Nice." Haruka said, eyes shone in excitement.

"I thought mackerel is a saltwater fish?" Rei's eye twitched in disapproval.

"Means it will die sooner or later. Sorry, Haru. Isn't that even important? Are we in the right place here?" Rin breathed, feeling uncomfortable sensations on his arm. He looked around to find another clue.

 _"Welcome to our exclusive water carousel."_

Rin found himself grinning the moment that familiar voice came out from the speaker near them. "We are. Alright, Joker. Waste no more time. What's your game?"

 _"I like your spirit, Matsuoka. You and Yamazaki are in such a pathetic state. I don't think I have the heart to harm you anymore. Worry not. As you can see, the ride will be fun. It is exclusively made for people's entertainment, after all."_

"We don't believe your shit." Sousuke said, breathing even heavier.

 _"It's up to you. Before we start the ride, do you see some things under the water?"_ The Joker asked. Rin had a feeling The Joker was enjoying this.

"Mackerel." Haruka quickly answered.

"Goldfishes," Rei answered, following Haruka, "and bright lights."

Nagisa nudged them. "Rei-chan, Haru-chan, there's more. I see papers at the bottom. Lots of them."

 _"It's always you who get the good eyes, Hazuki. That's right. They're photographs."_

"And?" Sousuke raised his brow, "What should we do with those?"

 _"Some photos from those many photographs hold important clues you may need to find Tachibana. Now for the rules."_

At the mention of Makoto's name, Haruka tightened his arm around Rin. The redhead quickly looked up, smiling a little as he saw the great determination glinted in Haruka's clear ocean blue eyes.

 _"Ride on any horse you like. Once in a while, one of the horses will lower itself to the water. Your task is to use the opportunity to take as many photographs as you can. Rule number one: only use your hand to get the photographs. Rule number two: you must stay on your previously selected horse. Do not switch or leave it._

 _Rule number three: you must find which photographs are the right ones to take. There are twelve kinds of photos which hold the clues. When the ride is over, you should have returned the remaining photos back to the water. I do not allow you to hold more than twelve photographs in your hand when the ride has stopped. Don't worry about not getting the right photographs, because there are many copies of them. The challenge lies in your quick eye in choosing the right ones."_

"Question." Nagisa's hand shot up to the air, "You mean if I hold two photos in the end, my friends have to hold only ten?"

 _"That's right. Any more question?"_

"How many rotations do we get and who will operate the machine?" Rei looked around.

 _"Good question. Pay attention to the music. The slower it gets, the nearer you get to the last rotation. I have someone who will assist you with your ride, so no need to worry about anything."_

Rin's hand formed a fist. "Is it okay for us to strangle your mysterious someone?"

 _"Only if you want to get disqualified."_

"What danger lies behind the ride?" Sousuke asked, too suspicious about everything.

The Joker let out a small laugh. _"Find that out by yourself. As usual, I will watch over you."_ The speaker went off.

"This is a unique ride." Nagisa winked at them, "It reminds me of Haru-chan and Mako-chan."

"Now that you mention it, I think you're right." Rei rubbed his chin, "We know very well that mackerel is too out of place if it's not for Haruka-senpai. Plus, this is _water_ merry-go-round. Who like this better than Haruka-senpai? And the goldfishes are..."

"Makoto's pets." Haruka continued, "Also, what sometimes reminded him of his trauma about the ocean."

"I see..." Sousuke nodded. He was the only one who didn't know much about Makoto's past. "Alright, let's ride on."

"Sousuke." Rin turned to him, "Are you sure you can manage?"

Rei quickly stepped in. "That reminds me! Rin-san, your arm is poisoned. Sousuke-san, your hand and fingers are poisoned. I do not allow any one of you to risk your hand under the water to take the photographs."

"What the hell?" Sousuke gritted his teeth, glaring at Rei.

The purple-eyed man didn't budge. Rei's glasses glimmered with the moonlight when he looked up to Sousuke. "If you die sooner because of this, I can not take any more responsibility. Look at _that_ water!" Rei's index finger shot toward the aquarium, "with all the living beings, not to forget the photographs. We don't know how many germs they have."

"Just listen to Rei, Sousuke." Rin sighed, "I guess he's probably right. Remember our situation. You do look pathetic. I'm genuinely worried about you."

Sousuke took a deep breath. "Fine, but what if my horse submerges?"

"Keep your arm out of the water, but if the position will risk the venom to flow to your heart, I think..." Rei took another glance at the aquarium, "you should just let your arm get soaked. Besides, the water isn't that deep. Only around a hundred and twenty centimeters."

"Yeah, but if we sit down, it's possible we will sink." Rin sighed.

"Eeeh? I hope not." Nagisa whined, "I don't mind, actually. We will swim with the goldfishes and that mackerel—aah! If we're going to swim with the horses, don't you think we should've prepared our swim briefs?"

"Told you." Haruka huffed in triumph, "This is Rin's fault that I can't wear my jammers in an occasion like this."

"Don't remind me. Come on. Should we all strip or what?" Rin looked at his friends, "I will still wear my trousers, of course."

"Let's go!" Nagisa stripped his upper clothes and kicked off his shoes, "To the ride!" He ran toward the stairs.

"Nagisa-kun, wait for us!" Rei did the same and followed behind.

Rin and Sousuke stripped their upper clothes carefully, making sure they didn't bother the splints covering their injuries. Haruka gave them a last look before following Nagisa and Rei. He was already half-naked. Rin couldn't guess when Haruka took off his clothes. Soon, Rin and Sousuke joined them.

"I will take this one." Nagisa climbed the stairs. "Whoa." He said as his bare feet sinked under the fresh water already covering the metal path. He enthusiastically climbed on the horse with fish tail, grabbing the pole tight between his palms. "This is exciting."

"This is childish." Rin commented, making his way toward another stair which led him to the horse behind Nagisa. "Guys, don't stay apart from each other. Just create a line."

"I don't really think so, Rin-san. The horses may move in a circular motion, but that means the photos on the bottom is also moving in the same direction. We want to get as much photos as possible, and creating more gaps between us will be more effective." Rei said as he climbed on the horse positioned two horses away in front of Nagisa. "This ride is beautiful, by the way." Rei turned his head around, enjoying the colorful lights and the silver and gold fishes dangling on the ceiling.

"Rei's right. Rin, create more gaps. In case you and me sink, I think I will take the photographs anyway, since my injuries will get drenched." Sousuke said as he took the ride one horse away in front of Rei. "And don't let this fool you." He turned to Rei, "I will put my trust in your tactfulness, Rei. Tell me if you find something suspicious. Shout, so the others will hear you."

Rei's expression turned serious as he pushed his glasses again. "You can count on me, Sousuke-san."

"I can't, Sousuke. I've already chosen this one. Remember the rules, all of you." Rin closed his eyes, resting his forehead on the pole for a while. "I wish all of us the best of luck."

Haruka adjusted himself two horses away in front of Sousuke, holding the pole tighter. "Let's start." He said as he took a peek at the underwater photographs. Some of them held the clues of Makoto's whereabout, and he would do his best to find all of them.

The carousel started to move. It seemed like whoever controlling the machine could hear them loud and clear. The music filled the still night air with rapid, cheerful beats of a song you would hear in festivals. Haruka didn't care one bit about the music. The horse he rode on moved steadily, up and down. Every time it moved down, his lower legs submerged in the water, but it wasn't deep enough for him to take the photographs with hand.

"Whaa—this is getting deep!" Nagisa exclaimed. Haruka turned his head, but he couldn't see Nagisa. The large pillar in the middle obscured his vision.

"Nagisa!" Haruka shouted, "Do your best!"

"Yeeah—best of luck, Nagisa!" Rin said, watching Nagisa from behind.

As the horse Nagisa was riding on started to sink its whole body, Nagisa inhaled as many air as he could, before his body submerged in the water. The blonde tightened his tights so they wouldn't leave the horse, then he used both his hands to take as many photographs on the bottom as possible, tucking them carefully between his elbows. The goldfishes swam away, but some of them brushed his body and left him giggling underwater.

When Nagisa's horse moved up to the surface, Nagisa's head broke through, coughing some water out of his throat. "These goldfishes were somewhat bothering, but still cute." He breathed.

"That isn't important, Nagisa-kun! Quick! Look at the photographs you've taken!" Rei shouted.

Nagisa quickly scanned the photographs. "Whoaa—there's a picture of sweet bread!"

"Dispose that one!" Rei almost screamed in frustration.

Nagisa reluctantly threw away the photo. "A penguin, too!"

"Dispose that, too! Get serious, Nagisa-kun!"

"I'm serious." As he looked, Nagisa disposed many photographs back to the water while he informed almost every picture he had taken. "People dancing. Skull. Huge tree. Stuffed panda. Cup of coffee. None of these is relevant to Mako-chan." His magenta eyes widen as he disposed the last photograph. "No way! There's nothing relevant!"

"I think you should look more carefully. We don't know Makoto's whereabout. Perhaps a picture of places will help. Did you get a picture of some place?" Rin asked behind him.

"Not yet. Perhaps I will need another round for that."

"Everyone! Haruka-senpai has submerged!" Rei shouted in front of them.

"Go, Haru!" Rin cheered as loud as he could.

Haruka's hands moved swiftly underwater, taking the photographs and slipped several photos between his fingers after he secured the other photographs between his elbows. His horse brought Haruka's body broke the surface up to his waist. Haruka carefully compiled the photos before looking at them one by one.

Some photos were indeed irrelevant, but Haruka didn't easily dispose them away as he kept examining the others. One photo kept him on hold. It was the photo of the front yard of Makoto's house. Haruka's eyes were transfixed to the photo as his brain kept turning for answer. When he spotted something on the photo, his ocean blue eyes widened in recognition. "Everyone!" He shouted, gaining everyone's attention. "Look carefully at your photos. There's a letter hidden on it."

"Letter? Noo—I've disposed all the photos!" Nagisa clutched his hair in regret.

"What do you find, Haru?" Sousuke watched him from behind. Haruka stared at his photo. There was a letter 'E' visible on the photo of Makoto's front yard. The letter was printed as a faint watermark near the picture of some bushes on the yard.

He quickly checked the other photos. Most of them didn't seem to hide any watermark. "Makoto's front yard and a dancing couple." He said, spotting a photo of a lady and a gentleman waltzing hand-in-hand. There was a watermark of letter 'C' on it. "Another one. People lining up for something." Haruka informed, looking at a photo of people doing a queue. There was a watermark with a letter 'D' on it.

"I'll sink." He heard Sousuke's voice from behind. "I guess I can't protect my hand, after all."

Haruka quickly turned to him. "Sousuke. Keep all photos with faint watermarks on them. Good luck." He said, watching Sousuke's body sinked to the water with his horse.

When Sousuke and his horse emerged from the water, he hissed as the pain on his hand stung. " _Shit._ " He cursed under his breath, both hands holding several photographs. "I knew it. Something's not right." A smirk curved his lips. Haruka stared blankly at him.

"What...?"

"I... I think so, too." Rei said, his voice shaking. "Look around, Haruka-senpai."

Haruka slowly looked over the area around him. The goldfishes were fewer than before, and the water wasn't as clear. It was a bit murky, with some white little pieces that looked like raw fish flesh. Haruka took a closer look, his hand carefully entered the water and pulled out a goldfish carcass. Its body had been shredded without mercy, and what remained in Haruka's hand was its bones, some nasty remaining of raw flesh, and some parts that previously seemed to be eyes and lips.

A horrified scream broke out of Rei, sending a shock Haruka's body. "Senpai! There are _p-p-PIRANHAS_!"

 _"Are you kidding me!?"_ Rin screamed back.

" _Damn it._ " Sousuke cursed, trying to lift up his legs away from the water.

Haruka's body jerked in surprise when he felt something touched his leg underwater. He pulled his leg up and quickly looked down, heart pounding in a rush. It was a mackerel carcass, its body had been torn to shreds until only the bones remained.

"My mackerel..." Haruka muttered in disbelief.

"Huh?" Sousuke furrowed his brow as he saw Haruka's ocean blue eyes seemed to get darker.

Suddenly, Haruka pulled something out of his trousers' pocket. It was neatly wrapped with soaked white cloth. When Haruka loosened the cloth, he revealed a sharp-edged kitchen knife. "Those piranhas..." He murmured, lifting the knife higher in front of his face, "will soon taste _death_."

"Uh..." The teal-eyed man blinked in confusion, "are you angry over a mackerel...?"

"NO!" Rei's voice alarmed him. Sousuke looked behind and found that Rei's horse was starting to loosen itself underwater. The blue-haired man was aghast, gripping the pole hard with trembling and sweaty palms. "No! _No_! I don't want to submerge!"

Sousuke took a deep breath before shouting. "Haru, give me your knife!" The shout sent Haruka back to his senses. Haruka swiftly threw his knife toward Sousuke.

"That's dangerous—" Sousuke's uninjured hand deftly grabbed the airborne knife, "but we have no choice. Rei! Take this!" He said, throwing the knife once he turned his body behind.

"S-Sousuke—san!" Rei awkwardly caught the knife, the water had engulfed him until his neck. In a second, the water had enveloped Rei's head.

The others watched in fear when Rei tried his best to take the photographs under the dangerous water. Warily looking for any sign of piranha, Rin kept messaging his heart to ease him from anxiety. He remembered about the venom that would spread faster in his bloodstream if he's anxious. As much as he was concerned about Rei, soon it would be his turn.

Finally, Rei's horse started to move up. Rin felt a breath trapped in his throat the moment he saw three piranhas swam in frightening speed toward Rei, baring their sharp teeth under the illuminated water. "Rei, watch out!"

"Rei-chan!" Nagisa screamed in dread.

Rei's head reached the surface, and a pained scream followed behind. The others watched in horror as they saw a stream of blood coloring the water around Rei's submerged leg. Rei kept screaming, his body was shaking so hard in panic. He jerked his leg out of the water, and three piranhas were munching on his leg, viciously shredding his skin and flesh even above the water.

"Kill them!" Rin burned up in rage, " _Kill all of them, Rei_!"

Still screaming, Rei lifted the kitchen knife in his hand and swung it to one piranha, stabbing its body with the knife. Rei thrust the knife deeper, its sharp tip penetrated through the piranha's body and making its way out of the other side. The vicious fish's blood spurted and mixed up with Rei's streaming blood.

With trembling hands, Rei pushed the dead fish out of his knife and killed the remaining two, stabbing them mercilessly as he cried in panic and hysteria. Tears soon broke out of Rei's eyes once he threw the piranhas' carcasses back to the water. His friends watched the scene in uncomfortable silence. Only the music, which had turned a bit slower, that filled in the silence between them. Haruka was the only one who couldn't see Rei clearly, since the pillar had blocked him, but he watched Sousuke's expression the entire time.

"Is Rei... okay...?" Haruka raised his voice. Still soft, but enough to be heard with the music still playing.

Sousuke gave him a quick glance before averting his eyes away. "He's safe now, but I'm not sure if he's...okay."

"M-my turn..." Rin suddenly said, feeling his horse moved down to enter the water. He said nothing else as his whole body was engulfed by the water. He tried to focus on grabbing the photographs among some carcasses of fish. He flinched a little when the piranhas' carcasses floated away within the water and made contact with his body.

The moment Rin made it to the surface, he carefully looked at the photographs he'd taken. "A couple dancing with 'C' watermark."

"I've got that one." He heard Haruka's voice from behind the pillar separating them.

"A woman dressed in black with 'A' watermark?" Rin looked up, waiting for any confirmation. His friends answered with a weak 'no' and 'not yet', and Rin separated the photo from the rest. Quickly disposing irrelevant pictures without any watermark, Rin found two pictures that weren't in his friends' hand. It was a picture of an old woman lying on a hospital bed, her face covered with cloth. A letter 'S' was visible as a faint watermark on it. The other picture showed a bouquet of flowers watermarked with the letter 'E'.

Sousuke, on the other hand, announced that he had found a picture of dark clouds. The picture had a letter 'A' watermark. The other picture he found was a photo of a crow, with 'B' watermark.

The carousel kept going, bringing them in circle and rocking up and down. Rei finally spoke up in a weak tone, informing them about his new finding. He got some pictures that were already in Rin and Haruka's hand, and the only picture he could keep was a picture of a huge leafless tree with 'M' watermark.

"I'm the only one without something important to offer." Nagisa spoke up, filling in the awkward tension between them. When he felt the horse he rode on was ready to submerge for the second time, he flashed a smile to Rin and Rei. "That left only three kinds of photos we will need. Leave them to me."

Nagisa's second attempt ended up quite a success, as he found a picture of skull with 'A' watermark—the same one he dropped off due to irrelevance. Another acceptable photo revealed 'N' watermark over a picture of old grasses over ground.

"One more photograph and we're done." Sousuke announced. He turned his attention to Rei, giving him a concerned look.

Rei inhaled some air, looking at the ceiling adorned with gold and silver fishes. He wiped the traces of tears over his cheek and smiled a little. "I feel fine now. It hurts a lot, but I'm fine." He looked down, purple eyes bored on some carcasses of goldfish under the water. "Makoto-senpai said I shouldn't cry so easily, because... we're all men, right? I can't believe I cried over some physical pain on my leg."

"Rei-chan..." Nagisa smiled a little at him, "Rei-chan, you're strong. I believe the reason you cried isn't just pain. You were scared. Really, those are piranhas! They could kill you!" The smile quickly vanished, "That's why... I'm grateful you're alright, R-Rei-chan..." Nagisa's face scrunched up as he started to cry.

"N-Nagisa-kun! Don't cry, you're a man, too." Rei scolded, but a wider smile curved on his lips. "And thank you, Nagisa-kun."

Sousuke just emerged from the water and inhaled some air to fill his lungs. The pain on his hand worsened after his second attempt, but this time he kept his mouth shut about it. He did a quick scan on his photographs as he threw them back to the water, one by one. "Got it." He finally smiled, lifting one photo. There's a picture of black iron gates printed on it with a faint 'R' watermark.

:-:

 _"Congratulations. You've won the game."_

"Shut up." Rin replied in a snap, baring his shark teeth. "I knew it. I shouldn't trust you about anything."

 _"If you can't trust me about anything, I don't think you will be able to make it this far. Your task now is to figure out what message hidden in those twelve photos you've gathered. Once you have solved the riddle, you should be able to find out where Tachibana is. Until then."_ The Joker cut off their communication.

They were all soaking wet, but Rei and Sousuke had brought some dry towels. The whole group had been frantic about Rei's injury. They did their best to treat Rei's injured leg, exchanging suggestions and finally bandaging Rei's leg to acquire health.

As they took turn using the towels, Rei gathered all their findings from the carousel and putting them on the ground. Twelve photos and twelve watermarks on them.

"Did you guys see what's behind the photos?" Rin flipped one photograph, showing them the back of it. There was an unreadable streak written in red marker.

"And judging from the watermarks, I think our job here is to arrange them until we find a word. We got the letter 'B', 'C', 'D', 'M', 'N', 'R', 'S', three 'A's and two 'E's. Any suggestion?" Rei turned to all of them. Nagisa was wrapping his arms around Rei, trying to give his best friend all the warmth and comfort he could offer.

"Let's see. A couple waltzing, an old woman passed away in the hospital, a huge tree, a skull, grasses over ground, dark clouds, a crow, bouquet of flowers, a woman dressed in black, people lining up, black iron gates, and Makoto's front yard." Rin rested his index finger over the photos, one by one. "What picture do you get from all these?"

"Makoto's front yard." Haruka said softly, "There's a grave on Makoto's front yard. The grave of his pet goldfish." He pointed to the photo.

"Grave...?" Sousuke's eyes widen, "That may be true. Most of the pictures..." He took another breath as it was getting harder for him, "...may indicate a grave."

"I agree with the crow, the woman dressed in black, the woman passing away, and the skull. Well, if you add up the dark clouds, the black iron gates, old grasses over ground and the huge leafless tree, they're quite a good addition to a picture of graveyard. Even we can use the bouquet of flowers as something people usually put in front of a gravestone." Rei said, couldn't fight his habit to adjust his spectacles. "But what about the picture of waltzing couple and the people lining up?"

"You know, Rei-chan. You just said that ten of them can indicate 'graveyard'. Isn't that enough? Just ignore the remaining two." Nagisa said near his face, hugging him even tighter.

"We can't, Nagisa-kun! I won't allow any mistake in here."

"Couple dancing, huh?" Rin commented, "Dance. Dance... hey." He looked at the letters, "We can create the word _dance_ from them, in English."

"You're right, Rin-san! Then what about the remaining letters? We have 'M', 'S', 'R', 'B', 'E', and two 'A's."

"Dance and graveyard." Haruka stared blankly at the photos, "Dance and graveyard... people lining up..." Slowly, his blue eyes went wide. "Makoto had once mentioned about dance and death."

His friends all turned their attention to Haruka.

"It was a term he found in a book he'd just read, and he once shared it with me. They were in English, that's why I—"

"Aaah!" Rei quickly arranged the photographs, lining them up on the ground, "I know it! I've read about that once, too. It's the dance of death— _Danse Macabre._ And actually, it's in French."

"Ooh—you're quick, Rei!" Rin finally grinned, "Great job! We've got the word!"

"And the pictures...?" Sousuke furrowed his brow.

Rei let out a menacing laugh. "It's easy. _Danse Macabre_ is a dance done along to the grave, between the living and the dead. Perhaps the people lining up means the lining couples making their way to the graveyard."

"So that means Makoto is...in the graveyard...?" Great concern showed on Haruka's face.

"Uh... yeah..." Rei blinked, his laughter died out, "that's probably... right."

"Guys." Rin interrupted them, "Remember the red streaks behind each photo? Rei, flip them over and we shall see what's the message behind them."

As Rei quickly flipped the photos over, the red streaks formed a word.

 **BURIED**

"Goodness..." Sousuke exhaled, "don't tell me..."

Realization washed over Haruka, and his eyes couldn't get more wide. "Makoto..." His blood was pumped faster as he stood up. "H-hurry up."

Haruka was scared, so scared that fear was starting to darken his world. Haruka felt so fragile that he could crumble at any time. "Find the graveyard."

:-:

He kept kicking, but the lid wouldn't budge. Makoto frantically tried to inhale some more air, which came out of his lungs as heavy gasps, blocked with a piece of cloth gagging his mouth.

It was so dark that he couldn't see a thing. He should've been more careful. He shouldn't have innocently thought that once he made it outside, he would be safe. He should've noticed right away where he was the moment he made his way out of the clinic.

Putting aside every regret in his mind, Makoto felt his body trembling in fear. He feared the situation he was in. He feared _death._

He knew there's no escape for him.

Makoto had been sealed shut inside a coffin, and buried under the ground, along with all the prizes he had gained from his game.

He had been deceived.

* * *

 **Notes:**

 **I am a bit concerned if I didn't put enough descriptions about the water merry-go-round. It was a wild concept created by me, after all. If you happened to have difficulties understanding, please inform me. Guest review replies below:**

 **For _kanamexzero fan:_** thank you! I'm sorry if it's scary, but I also feel rather glad (sorry again). Of course The Joker has many adventures for them, and yes. Nothing is going smooth for them. You're welcome and thank you.

 **For _Lady of the west:_** it may be a bit disturbing (and I'm relieved to know that). Thank you! Hope you enjoy the next chapter as well!

 **For _Otaku:_** well, I feel so cruel for writing this and enjoying this. Thank you so much. I'm glad you like it!

 **Reviews are very much appreciated. Warm regards from Gariell. ^w^**


	6. The Personification of Death

**Thank you. I really appreciate all your reviews.**

 **I'm sorry this chapter has taken a long time to update. Updates will be slower and a bit irregular now. Like what have been mentioned from Chapter 5 about Danse Macabre, for this chapter, I used a couple of classical references. I've tried to explain them bit by bit as the chapter rolled on. So if there's any one of you who's unfamiliar with these classical pieces, I hope the series of events and references in this chapter work to your full understanding.**

 **I want to express my special thanks to _DatHeetJoella_ for doing the beta for this chapter. She also gave me her honest opinions, precious advices regarding this chapter and encouragements. You may visit her profile page. She writes great Free! fanfictions!**

 **This chapter will be the longest one among the other chapters I've posted. All I can say is I hope you like it and enjoy the ride!**

* * *

 **Chapter VI**

 **The Personification of Death**

 **:-:**

 _Makoto was immersed in his tears and relief. He finally took a deep breath to calm himself down. "Haru," he said, "thank you."_

Thank you for giving me strength, _he thought,_ thank you for staying within my heart.

 _Then Makoto opened his eyes, turning his head to each side. His eyes were swollen by tears, and they blinked in confusion. It wasn't the fact that he was in the cemetery that confused him. It did surprise him, but what seized his attention the most was a sound caressing his eardrum._

 _A soft sound—like a harp playing. One, two, three—several plucks of a harp string on the same note. Seven, eight, nine..._

 _Twelve times. He barely knew this piece, but he'd listened to it before. Twelve harp plucks represented the clock struck midnight._

 _The sound was then followed by another sound—high-pitched, back and forth between two notes. The sound of bow rubbing against strings of violin._

 _And the sound was getting closer._

 _Voice of The Joker came out of the speaker, but he couldn't pinpoint where the speaker was._ "Be ready to play your next game, Tachibana Makoto."

:-:

"How can we be sure where the graveyard is?" Rei asked, his breaths were rapid in exhaustion. Helping Sousuke to walk took more effort. Nagisa had also helped him to support Sousuke. "This is like gambling."

"Rei-chan, we have no other choice! In this kind of situation, we have to 'feel' the right path." Nagisa was also drenched in sweat, fatigue starting to wash over his body. "Keep going, Rei-chan!"

"Judging from what we've seen in the area around the merry-go-round, a graveyard will be so out of place." Sousuke explained. He tried to accelerate his pace to match with his companions'. "The best option we can do now is to go to the other path we've not taken in the first place."

"That's right. Remember the first time we entered this place? The path was diverged into two. Left and right. I have a feeling the left path leads to a different theme of this amusement park." Rin said, "The right path has led us to a more cheerful, carnival-like place with merry-go-round and such. The other path may probably lead us to a darker theme of this park, a place for games like the haunted house or anything similar. A graveyard is most likely near there, too. If it isn't, then this park was designed by a poor-skilled architect—oi, Haru. Since when you can run so fast?"

Haruka was practically dragging Rin across the brick path. He'd been impatient, and he clenched his teeth the moment Rin uttered his small protest. "Makoto is in danger."

"Yeah, we know, but—" Rin almost stumbled so many times already as his shoulder was pushed forward with force by Haruka. "Seriously, are you trying to make me fall?"

"Rin." Haruka's voice was icier than ever.

Rin finally sighed. "Fine." After a brief moment of hesitation, he added, "Sorry."

Rin could feel Haruka's fear, manifested in his shaking body. Cold sweat broke through Haruka's temple, and his breaths were uneven. Rin understood that Haruka was in his worst anxiety, and for his friend's favor, he tried to inhale as much air as possible and braced himself for a run. At the moment, he didn't care anymore about the venom in his body. If running would accelerate the spreading of venom to his heart, so be it.

Just after Rin had started to breathe heavily, Haruka finally stopped him, holding his shoulder tighter. "I'm..." Haruka started between his heavy breathing, "I'm... sorry. I forgot. I'm sorry, Rin, but Makoto..." his hand moved up to his head, clutching his dark hair. His jaw clenched in frustration. "Everyone."

The rest of the group immediately turned to him.

"Slow down." Haruka breathed, "Take it slow. Rin and Sousuke will be in danger."

"Haruka-senpai is right! Rin-san, Sousuke-san, sit down and take your time." Rei looked upset, "I can't believe I forgot—how could I forget about that?" Rei's purple eyes shifted down, hands curled up to form fists.

Sousuke wanted to tell them that they're okay, and Makoto was their priority for now, but his body betrayed him. He immediately collapsed to the ground, feeling even more sick than before. " _Dammit._ Damn this venom." He whispered to himself.

"Sousuke..." Rin wriggled out of Haruka's arm and walked toward Sousuke. He sat beside his best friend. "Guys, I don't think Sousuke can take more than this."

"No! Please don't run any more than this!" Rei exclaimed, "You too, Rin-san. Just sit and stay there." He took out another water bottle from his bag, "Here, Rin-san, Sousuke-san."

Rin took the water bottle, heaving before opening it. "Thanks..." he muttered, drinking almost half the content. He passed the bottle to Sousuke, and Sousuke drank until the last drop of the water.

Haruka fidgeted in his place, completely restless and worried. "I will go by myself."

"No!" Nagisa shifted beside him, "I will go with you, Haru-chan."

"Are you suggesting us to separate?" Rei's eyes squinted, "We can't risk that—"

"Risk what?" Haruka seemed like he's about to erupt in fury, "What are we risking right now? Rin and Sousuke are resting now, and we're going to risk losing Makoto because we can't risk being separated?"

"I..." Rei was speechless. He adjusted his spectacles with shaking hand.

"Calm down, you two. We're racing against time." Rin said, "Just go, Haru. I'm sorry we can't accompany you. Promise us that you'll bring Makoto along with you when we meet again."

"Of course we will. I'm going with Haru-chan. Rei-chan, you may stay with them to make sure they're okay." Nagisa settled his hands on his hips, "We're going to save Mako-chan."

Rei finally nodded. "W-we don't know how much longer Makoto-senpai can wait if he's really buried under the ground. Do your best, Nagisa-kun, Haruka-senpai."

"Best of luck." Rin gave them a small smile, "I really want to see Makoto. I miss him."

"M-me too." Rei said, smiling a little, "Please."

"Fight, if you must." Sousuke said, "Don't be an emotional ball of stress. Fight for your life and Makoto's life. If you give up, I'm not going to hesitate if I have the urge to beat you to pulp."

Haruka and Nagisa nodded. They looked at each other in new determination before running off, as fast as their legs could manage.

:-:

"It's a game of cat and mouse. The dead want to dance with you. Can you escape the hands offered to you?"

 _The music was becoming more rich in tones. Makoto noticed that he wasn't alone in the cemetery. There were people coming in line, slowly to the cemetery. It reminded him of the line of people carrying the dead old man who gave him two goldfishes when he was young, toward the grave._

 _Their faces were so pale and they practically dragged their feet toward the graves. Their awkward movements and appearances made Makoto thought they've lost their souls, and what he was seeing right now were probably bodies that weren't alive nor dead. Each person dressed in a different costume. Some of the people wore seemingly expensive garments, some of them wore usual clothes, and the rest wore torn, ragged clothes._

 _Watching them in horror, Makoto tried to grab his cane in panic. He wished Haruka was here with him, allowing Makoto to hide behind his back, holding his hand firmly and taking him away from those people—like what Haruka did in their childhood. Yet, instead of a cane, or Haruka, he grabbed something else—something that felt like a hand, its fingers moved slowly under his palm. It wasn't Haruka's hand. Makoto gulped before turning his head slowly to his hand._

 _He was grabbing an extremely pale, familiar hand he'd encountered in the clinic. A hand belonged to the crawling puppet he'd just burnt a while ago. This time, the puppet had lost most of her hair, and her face was so grotesque—more like a monster rather than a woman now that her face had been burnt. Her eyes were redder and wider than before, her wide mouth melted and pasted all over her cheeks and chin._

 _Makoto jerked his hand off hers and burst in dreadful scream. He frantically reached his cane and tried to get away from the puppet. His heart slammed hard against his ribcage as he saw some of the graves around him were opened, and more people-like creatures were climbing out of the graves._

 _What truly shocked him was a familiar sight of the clown-like murderer from the_ REDRUM _room in the clinic, looking even nastier. He swung his axe around like a toy and walked across the graveyard toward him, grinning. His teeth were sharp like knives._

"Game start." _The Joker said, before his voice completely faded._

 _The violin played louder tones in_ forte _, and the people started to take each other's hand, dancing along with the music._

:-:

Haruka and Nagisa ran back to the place where they've first encountered a diverged path and two signs to the right and left. This time, they quickly took the left path. It was even darker than the right path and Nagisa had to stop for a while and took out his flashlight. Old leafless trees were planted along their path. Their overhanging branches were obstructing their way. Dry twigs blown by night wind rained all over the ground. Haruka smashed, charged through, and cut off the branches with his kitchen knife in frustration.

After a running down the path that seemed to take forever, Haruka and Nagisa finally stopped in front of securely locked gates, with high arch at sides of them, forming a curved structure at the top. There were large letters along the top of the arch, indicating the name of the place they'd arrived at.

Nagisa took several steps back and lifted his head high, casting his flashlight toward the arch and trying to read the words. "Welcome to... nothing. The rest of the letters are missing from this arch. Just a 'Welcome to'."

"I don't care." Haruka muttered, slamming his body to the gates. As expected, the gates wouldn't budge.

"Haru-chan, look." Nagisa approached him. His index finger pointed toward something attached to left side of the arch. It was a paper, its four edges taped up on the solid lower part of the arch. "Let's see what it is."

Haruka sighed. When he finally stopped, he became aware at how fatigue had consumed his body, and how his clothes were drenched with sweat. He took some brief steps toward the taped-up paper and read it with Nagisa's flashlight.

 _"A pleasing land of drowsy head it was,_

 _Of dreams that wave before the half-shut eye;_

 _And of gay castles in the clouds that pass,_

 _Forever flushing round a summer sky."_

— James Thomson, "The Castle of Indolence"

"A poem?" Nagisa read it over again, "A riddle? No, it's a poem, probably."

"Riddle..." Haruka said, "maybe... this poem is a riddle."

"I agree. There must be a reason why this poem is attached here." Nagisa fished out his phone from his pocket. "It's better for us to take a picture."

Nagisa took a shot at the poem. "If only Rei-chan were here, he could probably help us figuring this out." He read the poem again several times. "Ugh, I don't get it. Haru-chan, what do you think of this?" He looked up, but Haruka was no longer at his side. "Haru-chan?"

He heard faint clashing of metal chains, and found Haruka in front of the gate, trying to pick the gate padlock. "Wha—Haru-chan brought a lock picker?" Nagisa walked toward him.

"Rei gave this to everyone in the bus. Remember...?" Haruka was still struggling with his lock. He rarely cared about locking his door, so trying to actually pick a lock was hard for him, as he'd never done it before. He fought the urge to slam his body to the gates again.

"You're right! I almost forgot. Can you do it? Haru-chan, let me try."

Haruka sighed, finally giving it up to Nagisa.

It took Nagisa a whole ten minutes to finally open up the padlock. The blonde squealed in triumph, but Haruka was getting more and more frantic as the time passed. Haruka was pale and his body shook even more when he imagined Makoto might not survived the lack of air under the ground.

"H-Haru-chan, calm down. Let's get in." Looking at Haruka's expression, Nagisa was alarmed. He quickly pushed the gates opened as hard as he could, and they both started to run inside.

:-:

 _He couldn't run._

 _Not with his injured leg, which had become more painful at his every attempt to avoid the people approaching him. The crawling puppet and the clown murderer had cornered and pushed him to the center of the graveyard. His cane had flown away and cluttered on the ground after it connected to the sharp edge of the clown's axe, leaving Makoto unable to even stand properly._

 _Then, he'd been toyed around. More unfamiliar hands grabbed him, pulled him, swung him, passed him from one hand to another, tossing him around like rag doll._

 _While Makoto was still struggling to get away—even with his palms and knees alone—he was immediately surrounded. Makoto helplessly watched the pale, ghostly faces of the people trapping him. An opened, empty coffin was behind him._

 _This time, he failed. It was unfair. The Joker didn't tell him about this. He'd lied to Makoto about giving him the chance to meet up with his friends once he'd won the hide-and-seek game._

 _Makoto fought his best to jerk off when cold hands were seizing his arms. This time, he shouted and struggled. He cried for Haru._

 _Haru didn't come._

:-:

Neither of them bothered to check the old houses lining up along their path. They seemed to have arrived in a very small, moonlit village behind the previously locked gates. It didn't take too much of their time until they spotted a rather large clinic, and a graveyard behind it.

 _Graveyard._

"Makoto!" Haruka shouted, dashing off toward the graveyard. The black gates of the graveyard were unlocked. The place was silent, with a lot of gravestones lining up and a huge, very old tree with overhung branches. The graveyard left both of them shuddered with the stillness. The silence was soon filled with caws of a crow, hoots of an owl, and the moaning, eerie sound of wind swirling around the moonlit graves.

Haruka shivered, but he stubbornly entered the graveyard and looked around. "Makoto? Makoto!" He called. Perhaps if Makoto heard him, he would shout back and Haruka could pinpoint his location.

"Mako-chan!" Nagisa shouted as hard as he could, his hands rested to the sides of his mouth. He inhaled a lot of air before pushing it out again with his loudest voice. "Makooo-chaan!"

They were expecting an answer, but instead of Makoto's distress voice, what they heard was the voice of The Joker coming out of nowhere. _"Welcome to your first attraction."_

"Joker..." Haruka breathed, his fist clenched in anger.

 _"Don't worry. It will be a good show. Have you ever watched a live version of the dance of death before? Enjoy the classical piece of_ Danse Macabre _, or_ The Dance of Death _. No matter one's station in life, the dance of death unites all. Who knows, maybe you'll be reunited again with Tachibana, whether he's dead or alive."_

"I'm seriously going to kill you..." Haruka said in a low voice. He couldn't take it anymore. His body was shaking in pure rage.

 _"Try, if you can. You're our special guests, so we will give you the honor to take the spotlight of this attraction. Ready for your game?"_

"Haru-chan." Nagisa turned to him, and Haruka immediately nodded.

"Spill your rules." Haruka said, still looking around for any sign of Makoto. He found none.

 _"Soon you'll hear a solo violin playing_ Danse Macabre. _It will begin in twelve plucks of harp string, before the violin starts. Then, the dead will fill in the graveyard and dance with each other. They will be happy to dance with the living, and therefore, they'll offer you their hands to dance along with them._

 _"It's up to you if you want to dance with them or not. I have no particular rule. Just enjoy the little celebration. I only give you one task. Try to find the personification of Death in this cemetery. Once you've successfully found who's the personification of Death, you'll know what you should do. Nanase Haruka, this game will specifically depend on your good memories with Tachibana. Things will be, at least, familiar to you. I will leave you at this. We'll meet again, or not."_

The voice slowly faded, until it was no more. Complete stillness lingered.

Until a pluck of a harp string was heard.

"Do you think..." Nagisa whispered, "we should dance along with them?"

Haruka closed his eyes, thinking. "We'll see. Nagisa," Haruka opened his eyes again, turning his head to the blonde, "give me that picture you've just taken."

After tapping several keys on his cell phone, Nagisa handed it to Haruka. A brief glance was exchanged, and Haruka started to examine the photo of the poem. These words were somewhat familiar, but he couldn't remember what it was. In their private, precious times together, Makoto liked to show him a lot of things he'd just read in a book, so Haruka assumed this poem was one of them.

Sounds of a violin filled the air. Slow and high-pitched, they sent shivers through his body.

"Haru-chan, here they come."

Haruka broke his attention from Nagisa's phone, and he saw pale-faced, zombie-like people lining up, entering the graveyard. They somehow reminded him of his childhood, when Makoto seemed so scared after his old fisherman friend died in a storm. Makoto clung onto him on that day, and Haruka dragged him away from those people, taking him to safety—safe from his fear.

He would do that again for Makoto, at all cost.

More tones waved in. The people started to dance with one another. Haruka thought the dance would be awkward, but it was clearly energetic enough—too agile for people who dressed like the dead.

 _"Weird, isn't it?"_ Makoto's voice came out from his memories. Haruka remembered a time in the autumn when they spent their lazy day together in the calmness of Haruka's house, just lying down beside each other and exchanged stories. Makoto was holding a book, and Haruka was intently listening to his every word. _"Look, Haru. This painting represents the Dance of Death. It's scary."_

 _"If you know it's scary, why are you looking at it?"_

 _"Because I'm so curious and I'll be alright because you're here with me. Anyway, look."_ Makoto's finger pressed on one page of the book he was reading, _"Look how the dead seem so lively in this painting, that they're like dancing, and how the living seem so passive and awkward."_

 _"And what's the meaning of that?"_

 _"No matter one's station in life, the dance of death unites all. Haru, no matter who you are, or who I am, no matter if someone is rich or poor, we're all the same before Death. The glory of earthy life is that fragile."_

"Haru-chan." Nagisa's voice pulled him out from the sea of his memories. "They're approaching us. Should we...?"

"No." Haruka shook his head, "Don't let any one of them take your hand."

Nagisa's magenta eyes widened in surprise and curiosity. "Why?"

"They'll drag you to your grave." Haruka took Nagisa's hand. "Run."

More grotesque creatures climbed out from the opened graves. Their bodies were thin, seemingly decayed, with unrecognizable, damaged faces. Nagisa's mouth gaped opened. "How is this possible?"

"Just a good make-up and costume." Haruka said, "Or possibly puppets, or probably... The Joker plays with the devil himself."

"Okay—Haru-chan, they're fast!" Nagisa dragged Haruka, forcing him to run faster. "Faster, Haru-chan!"

Haruka was furious with his own legs, pressuring them to break their limit. While they were running from all the creatures, a clown dressed in black abruptly emerged from behind the tree, ambushing them. Nagisa's scream caught up in his throat at the sudden outburst and he almost fell in his hasty stop.

"Nagisa!" Haruka shoved Nagisa to the side, forcibly pushing him until he fell. A swing of the sharp axe cut the air, where Nagisa's head was previously there. Nagisa's face crashed on the ground.

"Ouch..." he whimpered in pain. "Haru-ch—" he was quickly pushed to the side, and another swing of the axe powerfully dug through the soil beside Nagisa.

"Haru?" The clown murderer grinned, showing them unnaturally sharp teeth, "So you're Haru."

Haruka looked up, watching the clown's movement in wary.

"That guy couldn't shut up about 'Haru'. Haru this, Haru that." He swung his axe back and forth in the air, then he let the handle rest on his shoulder. The sharp edge of it was soaked with blood.

"Makoto?" Haruka's eyes widened.

"Oh, yes. Are you wondering about this blood on my axe?" The clown murderer lifted his axe to the front. The fresh, warm droplets of blood dripped from the axe and dampened the dry grass. "This blood belonged to a scaredy-cat named Makoto."

Haruka's blood boiled. He took and gripped his knife in that flash of fury, charging it toward the clown murderer. The clown's axe blocked his knife, and Haruka could see those teeth were exposed even wider. Haruka pulled his knife back, swinging it furiously to the clown, all of his attacks blocked by the larger axe. "What did you do to Makoto...?" Haruka asked between heavy breaths, "I will kill you—I'm going to kill you!"

"Haru-chan!" Nagisa grabbed his arm, "They're coming! Just run, or they'll get to you!"

"Let me go, Nagisa! I will kill this bastard—"

"And we're going to be surrounded in no time!" Nagisa pulled Haruka with force, "He's wasting our time! Remember what Sou-chan said—don't be an emotional ball of stress, Haru-chan!"

"Fine!" Haruka replied in anger. When he turned around, a pale woman was trying to take Nagisa's hand. Haruka immediately pulled Nagisa away, taking another direction to run. He was being deceived. The clown murderer almost got him, and Haruka regretted the fact that his emotions was being played with.

"Wha—" Nagisa exclaimed in surprise as his ankle was caught by a hand shooting up from the opened grave, trying to drag him down.

Haruka hesitated for a second before he finally charge his knife toward the hand—letting it penetrate through its seemingly decayed flesh. His eyes widened in surprise as blood burst out from the hand. The hand weakened its grip, and Nagisa jerked his ankle off. _That hand belongs to a living person,_ Haruka thought, _I hope it won't kill the person._

He knew Makoto didn't want him to kill anyone, in all situations. Haruka realized that he couldn't really kill a person—even though that person was a murderer, or Makoto's murderer. He pulled his knife out from the flesh he'd just stabbed. In his fear of his friends' life, of all the people trying to drag them to the graves, and his fear of his own self—of what he was capable to do—Haruka ran away.

"Haru-chan, don't forget—about—the personification of Death." Nagisa managed to say in his blocked air circulations. He was so out of breath at the endless running. "We should—find out—who is it."

Haruka looked behind. The people were now dancing with each other, and they'd created quite a good, safe distance from them. "Here, Nagisa..." Haruka breathed, gesturing Nagisa to follow him behind a large tree.

Danse Macabre, _isn't it?_

He took Nagisa's cell phone and read the poem once again.

 _"When the clock strikes midnight, Death, or the personified Death, will play with his fiddle to summon the dead out of their graves. They will dance with his music."_ Makoto said to him in his memories, _"Haru, may I..."_

 _"Stay at my place? It's okay."_

 _"I'm sorry. Now I can't help but imagine a harp starts to play in the middle of the night, followed by a violin, when I'm sleeping. It will probably be my nightmare!"_

 _"Stupid Makoto."_

"The one who plays with the violin, he's the personified Death." Haruka finally said. Nagisa stared at him, his jaw dropped.

"That's cool! How do you know?"

"Makoto told me once. Not too long ago."

"Haru-chan, do you realize...?" Nagisa smiled at him, "The music is clearer here. The personified Death must be near."

Haruka still couldn't take his mind off the poem in Nagisa's phone, but they didn't have any more time to waste. They walked hastily, too tired to run again, following the direction where the sound of the music was coming from.

"There..." Nagisa whispered to him. There, the violin was particularly louder from behind the huge tree. The tree was larger than the one Nagisa and Haruka used to hide themselves previously.

They nodded to each other before advancing to the tree. Haruka and Nagisa huddled on the side of tree trunk, taking a careful peek. Judging from the sound, the personified Death was probably sitting on the other side of the tree, playing his violin.

They saw a black horse, huffing restlessly on the ground in front of the tree. Its leg stomped the soil, leaving dirt all over its shoes. Nagisa blinked in confusion. He clearly didn't expect a horse to be there. The violin was still playing, just behind them at the other side of the huge trunk. Nagisa squinted his eyes, squirming his small body away from Haruka's, sneaking carefully until his vision caught whatever it was that was resting on the other side.

The moment Nagisa saw who's sitting against the trunk, he made a surprised, hasty step back to Haruka. His face was pale, and his hand slapped onto his jaw, his finger pressed on his lips. Haruka's mouth parted opened, expecting Nagisa to tell him what he'd just seen.

"Headless..." Nagisa finally whispered to him, "A man without his head was playing the violin."

Finally, everything clicked.

 _"It's a nice poem for a lazy day. I just found it in an old translated literature I've just read. This story opened up with a quote taken from_ The Castle of Indolence _. I thought it was used to describe the village which is the setting of this book I've read."_

 _"What is that book?"_

In his memories, Makoto handed him an old Japanese book. Haruka realized it was a translated version of an English literature. The title was still written in English.

 _The Legend of Sleepy Hollow._

 _"Good thing I read it when you were slumbering beside me, Haru, or I don't think I would manage. Sleepy Hollow is most famous with the ghost of a headless horseman, rising up from his grave at night, riding on a horse and searching for his lost head."_

 _"And?"_

 _"I don't really like the ending. You see, they finally—"_

Haruka's memories turned hazy. He couldn't remember it well.

"W-we've found who's the personified Death is. W-what should we do now, Haru-chan?"

He couldn't answer. The Joker said it was based on his memories, and Haruka couldn't remember it. A headless horseman, risen up at night, searching for his lost head.

Should they search for his lost head?

"Haru...chan..." Nagisa's voice was low and scared. "Behind..."

Haruka turned his head, following Nagisa's gaze.

A man, dressed in black cloak, sitting on a black horse, was standing behind them. He had no head, and the hood of the cloak covered his bloody neck. The violin had stopped playing. Replacing the violin, a huge axe was in his hand, with something like a head—probably his head—at his other hand, resting in front of the horse's saddle.

"Uh..." Nagisa's dry lips uttered in hesitation, "R-run!"

They dashed off, legs be damned. The headless horseman, to their horrors, followed them behind. When Haruka made it to the previous part of the graveyard, he found out that it was empty. Along with the abrupt stop of the music, all the people had left. Haruka cried for Makoto in the silence of the cemetery, but he didn't get any answer.

"Haru-chan, duck!" Nagisa jumped onto him, pushing Haruka to the ground with his body. A large swing of the axe cut a bit of Nagisa's blonde hair. The horse leapt over them. Nagisa pulled Haruka to stand up, running to the other direction.

Haruka's eyes spotted something outside the graveyard. A bridge made of wooden planks.

"I—I saw—" Nagisa panted, his legs quivering in fatigue, "—a bridge! There, outside the graveyard!"

Haruka's memories rushed in again.

 _"They reached a bridge. Ichabod ran over the planks. He made it to the opposite side. He thought he's safe, but then, the headless horseman hurled the head in his hand toward Ichabod. It crashed tremendously on Ichabod's own head and—I really don't like it, Haru. Well, in the end, the headless horseman passed by like a whirlwind."_

They would probably die there, just like Ichabod, the main character of _The Legend of Sleepy Hollow._ Then again, what if Haruka and Nagisa were able to dodge the head hurled toward them? Were they going to survive afterwards?

If they ran in circles around this graveyard, their bodies wouldn't make it. They would be too exhausted. Sooner or later the headless horseman would cut off their heads, and Haruka realized that they had no other option but to follow the original story in the book.

And hope for a different ending.

"To the bridge!" Haruka commanded, "Let's go!"

The soles of their shoes trampled the dry grasses along their path. Haruka felt like his heart would burst in his constant running, it pumped so powerfully and blood rushed wildly in his ears. Nagisa's smaller hand had an iron grip, wrapping around his wrist, pulling him together to their safety. Disturbing sounds of a horse's panting and tackled grasses were heard, really near behind them.

They finally reached the bridge and they didn't hesitate to cross it. Their legs were stomping against the weak planks. Haruka preferred a thousand times better if he had to fall to the water below rather than his head being cut off.

"Nagisa—be ready to dodge!" Haruka breathed, barely pushing his voice out of his vocal cords.

The headless horseman stopped before the bridge and lifted the head in his hand. He was in the very act of hurling his head toward them, just like Haruka had predicted. The creature shot his head in a powerful force. Haruka's hand clawed over Nagisa's head, crashing their bodies to bleed on the dusty ground. The hurled head thundered on the ground at a great distance in front of them. It broke open and colored liquid spurted out from the head. Haruka realized it wasn't a head—but a pumpkin.

Haruka quickly turned his body to see if the headless horseman was there. He breathed in relief when he saw the creature speeding off, leaving the bridge in front of him.

The headless horseman left them to safety.

"Haru-chan, Haru-chan!" Nagisa's tears flowed out from his magenta eyes. "Look what I've found near the bridge!" He handed Haruka a piece of paper, and Haruka quickly read it.

 _"The sight you see in the front yard of his house,_

 _Where fresh flowers replaced the withering ones;_

 _For the memories of two dead goldfishes,_

 _Which you have revived with four living ones."_

"A shovel! Haru-chan, there's a shovel near the paper!" Nagisa had stood up, holding up a shovel. "M-Mako-chan—we can finally find Mako-chan."

Haruka's wide eyes glimmered as he immediately stood up. His legs sped off back to the cemetery. Heat rose up to Haruka's head. He was horrified. They might be too late. Various emotions filled him, colliding with each other.

There, at the center of the cemetery. There was a small grave.

A perfect replica of Makoto's goldfish grave.

Without exchanging another word, they dug through the grave with the shovel. Haruka was doing the work, while Nagisa frantically dug his fingers on the soil, hoping in the very least, his attempt would help.

"Makoto!" Haruka kept saying his name like mantra, "Makoto. Makoto."

When the tip of his shovel finally landed on something even more solid, Haruka took another deep breath. Nagisa was almost hysterical. "Almost!" Nagisa screamed, "Almost! Mako-chan!"

They finally dug up the soil, until it was possible for them to open the coffin buried under it. With the remaining of his strength, Haruka lifted up the lid.

Makoto was lying inside, motionless. Blood had left his face. His mouth was gagged, hands pinned behind his back. Haruka had dreamt to see those lively green eyes again, but Makoto's green eyes were closed. His leg was wrapped in a tight bandage, dry blood visible on it.

Without uttering a word, Haruka and Nagisa pulled Makoto's body out of the coffin. When they finally managed to drag Makoto up and onto the upper soil, Haruka felt like his world would black out. This was worse than the terror of that one summer day on their training camp, where Makoto drowned in the ocean while trying to save Rei.

"Makoto." Haruka shook the body in front of him with trembling hands. Unlike what the clown murderer had told him before, he didn't see any serious injury caused by an axe, except his leg that had been treated. Nagisa initially released the rope securing Makoto's wrists and the gag from his mouth, letting more easy access for Makoto to breath.

He wasn't breathing.

Haruka shook Makoto's body again. He rested his head over Makoto's chest.

Makoto's heart was beating. Weak, but it beat. Haruka quickly did chest compressions, pushing Makoto's chest dozens of times. Haruka's fingers pushed Makoto's chin up and pinched his nose before he inhaled as much air as he could. He transferred the air, sealing Makoto's lips with his mouth. Nagisa was watching them in panicked anticipation. Haruka did it several times, his heart pounded harder in fear after each try.

After what felt like forever, Makoto inhaled. He was breathing again. Nagisa cried out his name, his tears broke out, staining his cheeks and leaving his eyes to swell.

Makoto's eyelashes fluttered, until those green eyes were opened, just barely.

"Ha...ru...?"

Haruka pulled Makoto in his embrace and burst into tears.

* * *

 **Notes:**

 **Danse Macabre is a classical orchestral piece composed and written by Camille Saint-Saëns (in this chapter, however, the piece was performed only by a harp and a solo violin). It is based on an artistic genre of late-medieval allegory about the universality of death (no matter one's station in life, the Dance of Death unites all). Thank you to Wikipedia.**  
 **The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a piece of classical literature, a short story written by Washington Irving. It's most famous with its story about the headless horseman.**

 **For _kanamexzero fan:_** Thank you for your review! I hope you're satisfied with this chapter. I will reveal Joker later in future chapters!

 **For _Lady of the west:_** Yes, it won't be, knowing this fic. Thank you so much. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.

 **For _Otaku:_** Thank you! I'm sorry. I feel kinda sad too. I hope this one is more satisfying with the feels.

 **As usual, reviews are really appreciated. I would love to hear what you think about this chapter or this fic as a whole, or any part of this fic. I hope I will see you again in the next chapter. Warmest regards from Gariell. ^w^**


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